


Peach Pie and the Terrible Twos

by lyllytas



Category: Guardians of Childhood & Related Fandoms, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Children, De-Aged, Family, Father Figures, Gen, Magic, Memory Loss, Prompt Fill, Toddlers, Unconventional Families, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2017-11-24 05:12:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 51,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/630804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyllytas/pseuds/lyllytas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a year since the events of the movie. Life has been quiet for Guardian Jack Frost. That is until he follows a Nightmare back to Pitch's Lair and realizes that he can't leave things the way that they are.<br/>-<br/>A year long journey in which Jack and North endeavor to take care of a toddler!Nightmare King who doesn’t know who or what he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Unexpected Discovery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HPobsessed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPobsessed/gifts).



> For specific prompt detail, click the link below  
> [A fill for This Post ](http://rotg-kink.dreamwidth.org/1511.html?thread=1528551#cmt1528551) at the ROTG Kink Meme

It had been over a year since Jack had been inducted as a Guardian. The first couple of months after Pitch's defeat had been about doing clean up work more than anything. The next few months after that were used for getting into the swing of his Guardian duties, learning and understanding what he was supposed to do now, as well as being introduced to other spirits. Then the holidays had been in full swing, and he had winter to bring and children to play with.

As the months rolled by, Jack became less and less worried about the Boogeyman. But that didn't mean he wasn't cautious. He had learned the hard way what underestimating Pitch Black resulted in. He had plenty of things to distract him; it had been a hectic year for the frost spirit. And yet, it was a relatively quiet time overall.

This time around, Easter had come and gone without a hitch. There had been no more signs of Pitch. His defeat seemed to be total. Jack still came upon nightmares every now and then, but they were mere shades of the beasts they'd been before. Their numbers seemed less and less as time went on- Sandy made sure of that. Children's dreams were good again.

Now that winter was over, he found himself unsure of what to do with his time. Most days, he rode on the wind, keeping an eye on the children. There were still other countries he could visit, but most of them didn't need much help bringing snow days, for they already had plenty of snow. It was fun though, playing with the children. No matter what part of the globe he was in, fun remained the same. Right now, however, he was bored. the children were all in bed safely entertained by Sandy's dream sand.

He was considered moving on for the night when he spotted the nightmare. It was a relatively small one, only coming up to his knees. At first glance, he might have mistaken it for a stray dog, but the way the moonlight reflected off the shifting sand caught his eyes.

“Well, hello there.” He said to himself as he flew behind the creature. It's ears twitched, hearing the frost spirit behind it, and it darted down an alleyway. Jack smiled. A game of tag was just what he needed right now. The nightmare led him on a merry chase through the town. They twisted between buildings, picking up speed as the town gave way to woods and dirt roads.

“Run run run, as fast as you can!” Jack said with a laugh as he dodged a tree.

The nightmare was harder to spot in the dark between the trees where the moonlight didn't shine. Jack paused when the nightmare leaped over a fallen tree, before vanishing into a hole in the ground. And then it hit him where he was. Pitch's lair. The entrance had been sealed over after the events of last year, but now, the hole appeared to be opening again. Was Pitch planning another attack? Maybe it had been so quiet the past year because Pitch had been saving up all of his strength to attack again. Jack shook his head. He couldn't allow the Boogeyman to hurt the children again. His mind made up, he aimed his staff at the ground with the intent of making the hole wide enough for him to pass through. If Pitch was up to something, it was his duty to stop him.

Jack dropped into Pitch's lair, taking a moment to look around. It was even darker here than it had been in the woods, and it took his eyes a while to adjust. The last time he had been down here, sunlight had streamed through in odd patches, illuminating the carved stone and hanging cages. This time, there was utter darkness. Not even the moonlight shone here. It made him nervous; had Pitch figured out a way to keep the Moon out? He could hear skittering in the background, but nothing moved in the room he stood in. He moved warily as his eyes adjusted to the utter blackness, carefully exploring the halls as he looked for any signs of Pitch.

From what he remembered, it looked the same as it had a year ago. Not that he'd been looking too closely last time. The damp stone walls frosted as he walked past them, and cages creaked overhead. He paused in mid stride. Was someone breathing? Now that he was listening for it, over the scuttling and creaking, there was the faint huffing sound of breath. No, not breathing. Crying. Jack whirled around looking for the source. There was a broken bed frame in the corner, from which he was reasonably sure the sound was coming from.

“Pitch?” He called, and the breathing stopped. Jack glided over to the bed, staff drawn before him in a defensive pose. There was a ripped mattress laying on top, but no one was in the bed. Realization dawned on him, and he got on his knees to peer under the bed. He didn't see anything at first, but eventually a body began to form in the shadows.

“Hello there.” Jack muttered under his breath. Two golden eyes turned to look at him, but something felt off. “What are you doing under there, Pitch?” He couldn't help asking. “Hiding under the bed, isn't that a little cliched?” Jack raised an eyebrow, waiting for some snarky reply. Pitch didn't answer him. They stared at each other for several seconds.

“Come on, can't you talk like a normal person?” Jack hesitated a moment before offering a hand out to his old nemesis. “Oww!” he yelled pulling his hand back. He'd bit him! “What the heck?” Jack exclaimed as he looked at the tiny bite mark on his hand. “What in the world?” He wondered as the pieces slowly started to fall into place.

“I'm not going to hurt you.” Jack said quietly to Pitch. “Why don't you come out from under there?” Pitch eyed him warily. “I won't hurt you.” Jack repeated, offering his hand again. Pitch shook his head, and Jack scrunched his face in thought before an idea hit him.

“Can I join you?” He asked. Pitch thought for a second then nodded. Jack crawled under the bed and rested his chin on his hands. The nightmares crawled along the edges of the room, sometimes advancing closer to the bed.

“So this is what you've been doing Pitch?” Jack eyed the former boogeyman. It seemed that much like loosing Easter had hit Bunny hard, loosing all of that fear had hit Pitch just as hard. And here he had been worried about Pitch attacking him. The Boogeyman was no more capable of scaring the children than Jack was.

“'Cawee.” A voice said, drawing him out of his thoughts.

“Wha?” Jack looked at Pitch.

“Scawee.” Pitch pointed at the nightmares, who had crept closer to the bed. They stood nearly two feet away, pawing the ground. The bed suddenly seemed really fragile, and Jack longed to be above ground again. Pitch hid his face in his hands. It was then that it hit him just how big the nightmares were. Unlike the ones that he had been dealing with, these creatures looked well fed, maybe even bigger than the ones he'd helped take down. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. Bunny might have thought it was Poetic Justice, the nightmares feeding off of their creator, but Jack couldn't help but shudder. It wasn't right.

“Hey. Wanna play a game?” Jack asked.

Pitch lowed his hands quirked his head.

“It's easy. Close your eyes, and give me your hands.”

Pitch hesitated before closing two golden eyes and thrusting his hands out at Jack. The Guardian took Pitch's hands in his own and in one swift motion, pulled them out from under the bed. He shuffled the boy in his arms long enough to pick up his staff and fly them in the air. The nightmares pawed at the ground below them and followed them as they flew to the entrance.

Jack flew upwards as quick as he could, eager to put as much distance between them and the nightmares as he could. He breathed a sigh of relief as they left the entrance to Pitch's lair and the moonlight bathed over him again. Thinking quickly, he threw a thick layer of ice over the hole in the ground. Hopefully that would stop them for a while. After he was sure that he had put plenty of distance between them and the nightmares, he glided to a thick tree branch before setting them down and examining the boy.

Pitch was tiny, much younger than the children Jack usually played with. Jack guessed he was around two or three. A very small two or three. He was wearing the robe, and only the robe, that Jack had seen him last in. Only now it was enormous on him. Pitch had started crying again during their flight.

“Hey, it's okay Pitch.” Jack said he rubbed circles in the boy's back.

“Peech?” The boy hiccuped as he wiped his nose on the robe.

“Uh,” Jack said taken aback. “Yes. Pitch. That's you.”

“Peech.” He repeated, trying the word out. “Peech.”

“I'm Jack. Jack Frost,” he said pointed at himself.

“Dak. Fwost.” Pitch chattered to himself.

Jack looked up at the moon. “What happened?” As usual, the moon gave him no answers. North would know what to do. But first, he'd have to find something for Pitch to wear.

A quick pit-stop at Jamie's house had led to an awkward conversation when the boy had found Jack digging through his sister's old clothes, but they'd eventually found something that fit Pitch well enough. Jack borrowed Sophie's jacket, promising to return it, and give him an explanation.

The boy had laughed. “It should be an interesting story.”

“You have no idea.” Jack had replied and had quickly stashed Pitch's robe among Sophie's things. Then they were off.

Jack flew to North's workshop as quick as he could, mindful of the shivering boy in his arms. Jack landed at the front door and banged with his staff. Phil let him in, but let out a confused noise at the bright bundle in his arms.

“Hey Phil! Do me a favor. Get North for me.”

The yeti left the two in the hallway, and Jack looked at the boy. Pitch had fallen asleep sometime during the flight, his head lolling back in the pink hood. Jack snorted and adjusted his grip.

"Nightmare King. Right. Not so scary now, are ya?"

“Jaaaack,” a booming voice interrupted his thoughts. North bounded up the hallway. His sabers were tucked into their usual sash, though he had shed his overcoat. He looked the same as the last time Jack had seen him. Cheeks rosy, and eyes twinkling.

"Heeey North!" Jack greeted him.

“I was not expecting you so soon. What has a happened? Phil says you have a child?”

Jack shuffled the bundle in his arms. “Um, Kind of. Can we talk somewhere private?”

North nodded, and led them to his private study, closing the door behind them. The room was comfortable; several large bookshelves lined the wall and were filled with well kept tomes, a large cluttered desk sat under the window along the one bare wall in the room, and two over-sized armchairs overlooked the roaring, gated fireplace. Upon spying the chairs Jack dropped Pitch into one, grateful for the break it provided his arms.

“So you'll never guess who I found today.” Jack said as he pried the frozen jacket off of the boy. North leaned over as Jack held the boy up.

“Is Pitch!” North exclaimed.

“Yeah. Only he had no idea.” Jack rolled Pitch over onto his side, and slung the jacket off the back of the chair.

“Whaaat?”

“When I found him, he didn't even know his name.”

“Is not possible.” North said scratching his chin.

“Well it certainly is possible, because I found a toddler, who didn't know who they were, crying under their bed scared of the nightmares. And who knows how long he's been down there like this.”

“Hm.” North said as he bent over the chair to closer examine Pitch. Of course, that was when Pitch stirred. Gold eyes blinked open, and when they registered the large figure in front of him, he screamed at the top of his tiny little lungs. North jerked back instinctively.

“Woooah! It's okay, Pitch. I'm here.” Jack said as he threw himself between the two, picking Pitch up. He glared at North when Pitch started crying.

“What?” North said, throwing his hands up in the air. “I did nothing!”

Jack made shushing sounds as he bounced Pitch on his hip. 

“Pitch, this is my friend. He won't hurt you.” Jack said once the screaming died down.

Pitch peered out from where he'd buried himself in Jack's shoulder. “fwiend?”

“Uh huh. This is Santa.”

“Sana?” He looked to Jack for confirmation. Jack nodded. Pitch tugged on Jack's arms and pointed to the ground. Jack got the idea and let him down. Pitch clambered across the room until he stood in front of North. He pointed at the older Guardian. “Sana,” then at himself. “Peech,” and the back to Jack, “Dack."

“Is nice to meet you Pitch.” North laughed as he bent down to Pitch's level. “Jack.” North said as a thought hit him. “Why is he wearing dress?”

“Um, about that.” Jack said as he sheepishly ran a hand through his hair.

Twenty minutes later had found them sitting at a table in the kitchen. The elves had scuttled about preparing something for them to eat. For lack of a proper chair for Pitch to sit in, Jack held the toddler in his lap, and attempted to make him eat. Pitch seemed more content to play in his dinner though, smashing peas between his fingers and giggling as they shot juice out. Jack sighed and let him be.

“So do you have any idea how this happened?” He asked the older Guardian.

North shook his head. “I have seen the smaller.”

“Like Bunny.” Jack input.

“Yes.” North said. He pushed his empty plate forward and looked at the children in front of him.

“Maybe he hit head on way down. Knock all the memories right out.” North imitated hitting his head.

Jack grimaced. “We can't leave him like this though. Right? I mean, he has no idea who he is or how to protect himself. He's just a kid.” Jack pleaded. “I couldn't have left him down there! The nightmares were really big! What if they'd gotten out and hurt the kids! We can't send him back.”

Pitch, sensing Jack's distress, struggled in his arms.

“Relax, Jack," North placated him. "We will take care of him.”

Pitch let out a squeal as he held his gooey hands out for them to see.

“Did you actually eat any of that you little twerp?” Jack asked with a laugh as he ruffled the toddler's hair.

“Weerp Weerp!”

Jack sighed. “I don't suppose you have anything that will fit him better? I borrowed some of Sophie's clothes, and this seemed like the easiest thing to get him into. And I should get these back to Sophie before anyone realizes that they're missing.”

North pursed his lips in thought. “The yetis will help.”

Jack nodded thankfully as he picked his charge up. “I guess I'll give him a bath now.”

“You remember way around?” North asked as he gathered their plates.

Jack nodded. “Thanks North.” Jack said with a smile.

“Aaack” Pitch squealed as he smooshed his hands together as Jack carried him out of the room.

“Ack indeed.” Jack echoed him. “No no! Don't touch me. Eww that's wet. And sticky.”

North watched them leave. “I hope you know what you're doing Manny.”

The moon twinkled in through the window pane in reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was edited on 3/23/15


	2. The Prince's New Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then there were three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was edited on 6/8/13 for minor content and grammatical errors.

The moonlight glittered across the snow, a familiar sight to the winter spirit. He leaned forward from where he was laying in bed, and tugged the curtain closed. Pitch twitched under the covers, before settling down with a sleepy sigh.

Jack looked at the sleeping boy in his arms. It was hard to believe that the Nightmare King who had caused so many problems a year ago could be reduced to the almost adorable child that he now watched. And what a child he was. Jack kept watching for any sign of Pitch's usual personality, but none of it showed through. If anything, this Pitch seemed to be stuck in “perpetually scared”. Whatever punishment Pitch deserved, a year hiding in the dark, under the bed, from angry monsters was far from what was right.

Jack curled tighter around the prone form of his former enemy. He was a Guardian now, and therefore he had a duty to protect the children. As long as Pitch was like this, it was their duty to protect him as well. What a job that was going to be.

The toddler seemed to have attached himself to Jack, chattering happily in his presence. Yet when Jack had tried to put him to bed after his bath and leave the room, Pitch had screamed and cried out for several long minutes. North had been the one to suggest a night light but that hadn't been enough to stop his tears. Jack had resigned himself to a long night watching over Pitch.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now; who knew how long Pitch would be like this. Yet he felt a sense of responsibility to look after the boy. He'd been the one to find him, the one to rescue him. But what happened next? North had seemed to wipe the slate clean. He at least, was willing to separate the actions of the Nightmare King from the child that was infront of him.

But how would Sandy, Bunny and Tooth react. Pitch had gone after them hard during their battle. Would they be willing to help him now that he was the one that was powerless? Jack twisted his staff between his fingers. There was so much uncertainty, so much that he still didn't know. He hoped that this wouldn't cause any tension between the Guardians, but he couldn't imagine a scenario where everything turned out okay.

Jack felt himself being shaken awake. When had he fallen asleep? Pitch shook him again “I'm awake, I'm awake.” Pitch grabbed Jack's hand and then pointed to the window that was beside the bed. Someone, probably Pitch, had propped the curtains askew so that the morning light streamed into the room. He rubbed sleep from his eyes with one hand, as Pitch still held tightly to the other. The boy made a slightly distressed noise and pointed to the window again.

“What's the matter?” He looked out the window for himself. There was nothing but snow for as far as the eye could see. Everything looked normal. Pitch growled in frustration and jabbed his finger upwards.

“Are you... Are you pointing at the sun?” Jack brought his fingers together in a circle. Pitch made a circle with his own hands, nodding. “That's the sun. It's what makes the day bright.” Pitch seemed to contemplate this.

“Are you hungry? I bet Santa's got breakfast somewhere around here.”

“Sana!” Pitch clapped. Jack fumbled around the bed for a few seconds for his staff, and once his fingers were wrapped around it's familiar form, Jack floated upwards.

“Wanna go for a ride?”

“Wide?” the toddler tilted his head.

Jack knelt by the bed. “I give excellent piggy back rides. Hop on!”

Pitch clambered across the bed, hesitating a few seconds before launching himself at the winter spirit.

“Oof” Jack said with a grin. He pulled Pitch's hands around his neck. “Hold on tight, okay?” he reached an arm behind himself to support the toddler, then once he was certain that he wouldn’t drop the younger spirit, they flew out of the room in search of North. Pitch squealed the entire way in delight.

Jack loved flying through the workshop. After having it closed off to him for three hundred years, the magic of just being allowed in had yet to wear off. Everything here was grand and elaborate. Toys and designs could be found scattered in every room. Elves dashed about underfoot, often causing mischief or getting high off of sugar. The yetis rushed around in organized chaos, intent on finishing that day's tasks. It was the best kind of crazy; it was impossible to feel alone here. This made it one of Jack's favorite places to come whenever he needed a break from the rest of the world.

Burgess was still his home, but North had made sure that Jack knew that he was welcome anytime. The older Guardian was used to Jack dropping by for guidance or whenever he felt lonely. He'd eventually given Jack a room of his own “for whenever you get tired of creating mischief”.

The others had made the same offer as well, but that the snow and the atmosphere of the North Pole was his favorite home away from home.

The two dodged between hallways, doors, and residents until they found North sitting in his favorite armchair in the library flipping through the pages of an old leather-bound book.

“Sana!” Pitch exclaimed as soon as he saw him.

“I thought I heard the screams of little Pitch echoing through my hallways.”

“Way to not be creepy.” Jack muttered as he lowered himself to the ground and allowed Pitch to slide down.

“What trouble are you getting into now?” North asked as he closed the cover of the book and set it down on a side table.

“Me? Cause trouble?” Jack smirked innocently. “We were just looking for you.”

Pitch toddled over to where North was sitting. On the table beside the book there were a pair of reading glasses, which the boy promptly picked up and examined briefly before sticking the lenses in his mouth.

“Woa there” Jack exclaimed as he rushed forward.

North beat him, picking the toddler up.

“Not very tasty.” He laughed and pulled the glasses away.

Pitch groaned and grabbed for the glasses.

North reached over to the table. “Here, try cookie instead.”

Pitch happily accepted the cookie stick and promptly stuck half of it in his mouth. He offered Jack a cookie as well, but the spirit turned him down.

“So North, I was wondering if you'd talked to the yetis yet. About Pitch's clothes?”

“Ah yes! Phil had wonderful idea. Come little one. We get you out of dress and into brand new clothes.”

North propped the toddler on a hip and led them down to the main room where the yeti's usually worked. Though it was early in the morning, the hustle and bustle was as loud as ever. Jack felt himself light up, but he noticed that Pitch seemed to pull himself closer to North, unsure of the commotion.

They wandered down to the lift that would take them to Phil's workstation. The yeti noticed their approach and put down the doll he was working on. “You have finished clothes for little one?” North indicated the toddler he held. Phil grunted an affirmative and pointed to a bundle on the far side of the table. “Ah good.”

North deposited Pitch on the edge of the table. Jack picked up the bundle and pulled the on twine that held the brown together. At the top of the pile was a pair of soft black slippers. He put them on the desk beside Pitch. A pair of dark grey paints and a long sleeve t-shirt joined them. North deftly slipped the old clothes off the toddler and put the new ones on, no small feat when Pitch held firmly to the cookie stick that he was sucking on.

“What's this?” Jack asked as he picked up another bundled package and pulled on the twine. He laid the brown paper on the table and shook out the garment.

“Ah. My idea.” It was a miniature black cloak, complete with a tiny hood. It was thick and soft to the touch. “This way, no more pink coat!”

Jack smiled, touched. “Thanks North, this is great!” Phil grumbled, and Jack turned to him. “Keep up the good work Phil!” The yeti held his head up proudly, and Jack laughed.

“Let's wait to give this to him until he finishes that cookie.” North said, raising an eyebrow.

“Good idea.” Jack folded the cloak back up and stuck it under one arm. “I need to take these clothes back to Sophie. Can you keep an eye on him for me?”

North nodded. “No problem. We find something to do.”

Jack leaned forward and ruffled Pitch's hair. “I have to go for a little bit. You're going to stay here with Santa.”

“Go?” Pitch said with a wobbly lip.

“I'll be back. Promise.” Jack held out his pinky finger when the wobbly lip threatened to give way to full blown tears. Pitch tilted his head and studied the hand. Jack laughed and wrapped his pinky around one of Pitch's. “You can't break a pinky promise.” He shook their hand up and down before letting go. “Now be good for North. I'll only be gone for a little bit. Jack put the cloak down on the table and picked up Sofie's dress.

“Thanks, North, for everything. I'll be back!”

North waved him off and turned back to the boy. “Now then Pitch. Let's go find something for you to do.


	3. It's Bedtime... Somewhere far away from here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Jack had known what he was getting himself into, he probably would have chosen to sleep through the entire night instead of chasing after dumb little nightmares. Of course, that could be lack of sleep or crankiness talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to the lovely [Victoria-Corps](http://victoria-corps.tumblr.com/) who was the inspiration for this chapter

Jack flew through the air making his way to Burgess. He stopped along the way to spend a few moments spreading ice and throwing snowballs with children along the way. Spending time with the children had always been important to him, but now as a Guardian, he made sure to be there for them as much as possible.

He was happy to note that while the majority of the children didn't see him, a good number recognized him, waving and shouting his name as he passed by. As he flew further down south, the June air became warmer. Ice was long past season here. Instead, kids were outside enjoying their summer vacation. Jack flew towards Jamie's house.  
  
“Jack!” Jamie called out when the Guardian passed through his window.  
  
“Hey kid.” He held out the bundle of Sophie's clothes that he had stowed in his hoodie pocket. “Thanks for letting me borrow these!”  
  
Jamie rolled his eyes. “No problem, Jack. But, why did you give the Boogeyman one of my sister's dresses?”  
  
Jack ran a hand through the back of his hair. “You knew that was Pitch? You saw him?”  
  
“Duuuh,” Jamie drawled as he walked towards his sister's room. “But I figured if you were watching him, then we were safe.”  
  
“Of course you guys are!" Jack huffed as he nudged Jamie with his staff. "Keeping kids safe is kind of my job.”  
  
Jamie smiled as he threw the clothes into Sophie's closet. “I know. That's why you had to watch Pitch. I don't get why he's a kid. Things work different for you guys. But he is a kid now. And I don't think I could have a hero who would leave a little kid alone by themselves. Even if that kid was the Boogeyman.”  
  
Jack ducked his head. “When did you get so smart?”  
  
“I've always been smart!” Jamie protested. “So. What is going to happen now? Is he going to get big again? What if he tries to fight you guys? We won't be there to protect you this time!”  
  
“I dunno Jay. Right now I'm just focused on things the way that they are. Right now, he's just a kid. If he does grow up and want to fight us again, then we'll be ready. Okay?”  
  
Jamie sized the Guardian up. “Okay.” He paused. “I bet he looked really silly in that dress.”

Jack laughed. “Yeah he did.” And just like that they were back to normal.

“Do you want to see my new game? It's awesome!” Jamie said with the enthusiasm only a child could muster.  
  
“Sure thing, Kiddo! Lead the way!” Surely North wouldn’t mind if he spent a few hours with their favorite believer. Pitch had agreed to behave, after all. A little fun with Jamie was just what he needed right now.

-

North was unsure of what to do. Pitch had been fine when Jack had left. He had finished the cookie, and after North cleaned him up, he’d given the boy the cape that Phil had made. Then the two had gone down to the storeroom where he kept all of the toys the yetis made until Christmas. He’d been hoping that something would catch the child’s eyes and keep him occupied while he made arrangements to meet with the other Guardians. They would undoubtedly want to hear of this new development.

However, when he set the boy down and gestured to the toys with a “Go play.” Pitch had stared at him blankly. He had attempted to interest him with several different toys, but nothing drew a reaction.

“Hm. You are tough sale. What do Pitchs like to play with?” North paced the room, drumming on his head with the tip of his finger. Pitch remained on the floor where North had placed him, chewing on one of the drawstrings of his cloak, seemingly content just to watch the older man mutter nonsense under his breath. Jack made this look easy. Keeping children occupied was a lot harder than he remembered.

North was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice when Pitch grew bored, and pulled himself off of the floor. The toddler mocked North’s pose and tapped his head a few times as he toddled back and forth. He paused occasionally to rub his tummy.

“What are you doing?” North muttered when the motion caught his attention. Realization sunk in slowly, and he couldn’t hold back a laugh when he realized that the boy was pretending to be him. “Is that how I look to you, little one?”

Pitch paused when he noticed he was being observed, suddenly shy. He threw his hood up and turned away.

“Daaaack.” He said after a pause.

“Jack is not here. He come back later.”

Pitch flopped face down on the floor with a huff.

“Aaack.”

Oh no. North knew that tone. That was the _I’m about to have a tantrum_ tone. North quickly stepped over to the boy, and hauled him up.

“He is not here. I am. What you say we go outside. Is a good day for playing.” Pitch laid limp in his arms. “Alright. We go outside.” He hoped Jack was back soon. He was clearly out of touch on how to deal with Very Small Children.

Juggling Pitch between his arms, he slid his coat on. Then he quickly set to work pulling a pair of mittens onto Pitch’s hands. Phil had made them as an afterthought, for which North was grateful. The Yetis always thought of all the little things. He made sure Pitch’s cloak was secured tight around him, and then they headed outside.

The air was crisp and refreshing. North took a deep breath before setting Pitch down in the snow. The boy seemed unsure of what to do. North tromped down the path a little ways, making sure to keep an eye on Pitch. Perhaps building a snowman would keep the child occupied. Pitch awkwardly picked his way through the snow as North knelt down in the snow to began forming the base of the snowman.

“You want to help?” North asked when he noticed that this actions had piqued the interest of the boy. The Guardian showed Pitch how to scoop up and pack the snow. This seemed to interest him, and he set off a few paces and proceeded to make the wonkiest snow _thing_ that North had ever seen. At least it kept the kid busy.

Several hours later, Pitch was decidedly less interested. His gray skin had started to take on a purple hue, and North decided that it was time to go in, before the child froze.

“Ey, Pitch. What you say we go inside. Is nice and warm. I bet we have cookies and hot chocolate.”

“Cookie?” Pitch perked up.

“Now how did I know that would get your attention?” North laughed to himself.  “Come, come. Let’s go wait for Jack inside.” He ushered Pitch inside through the mud door. After hanging up their wet over clothes in the mud room, North went to investigate the kitchen. There was indeed coco, and a plate of cookies were easily obtained.

North set to work mixing the beverages, and once he made sure that the beverage was cool enough, and filled a cup up halfway. He debated about whipped cream, but decided that with Pitch, the less messy- the better. With that accomplished, he moved them into the study.

Pitch destroyed the cookies- but how much he actually ate was debatable. Most of the cookies just seemed to be in pieces or smushed up. At least he had managed not to spill the coco all over himself. He was considerably less messy then he had been yesterday at dinner.

North couldn’t hold back a chuckle at the sight in front of him. After gorging himself on sugar, Pitch had passed out on the chair with his mouth wide open. “Oh, what would you say if you could see yourself now, Boogeyman? You would think you are having nightmare!.”

“Hey North!” Jack called as he burst into the room “What’s with the mess out front?”

North turned around and quickly shushed him. “He just fell asleep.”

Jack peered around North and grinned at the sleeping boy. “Should we put him to bed?”

“I don’t want to risk waking him up.” North said with a shrug.

“Good idea.” Jack said, as he backed out of the room. “So I’m guessing you two had a snow day?” North followed him and pulled the door shut behind him, muffling their voices. Neither noticed the grimace that had blossomed on Pitch’s face, or heard the quiet whine.

-_-_-_-

If Jack had known what he was getting himself into, he probably would have chosen to sleep through the entire night instead of chasing after dumb little nightmares. Of course, that could be lack of sleep or crankiness talking. It had been a long and frustrating week for Jack. A dark cloud hung over the workshop.North had tried his best to lighten their spirits, but the gloom would not go away.

The problem was that Pitch was grumpy; Very Grumpy. So grumpy that his grumpiness was affecting everyone in the workshop. He’d been grumpy since he woke up from his nap on the day that Jack had gone to return Sophie Bennett’s clothes.

The solution seemed simple, whenever little kids got grumpy, they were usually tired, and you gave them a nap. Or they were hungry and you gave them food. Pitch, of course, would do no such thing. He also wouldn’t go to sleep for more than a couple moments at a time. And when he did get up, he was always crankier than when they laid him down in the first place. Jack was at his wits end.

One week ago, he’d been out throwing snowballs with children. Now he’d suddenly become the guardian of a very moody toddler. Jack was at a total loss. Pitch had seemed fine the first day. A little scared maybe, but his mood had been getting worse and worse as time passed. “No.” seemed to be the only word that Pitch grasped, or even spoke, when he bothered attempting speech. Most of the time he just screeched angrily, or hissed moodily at whomever was nearby.

Pitch was being particularly difficult today, snarling at everyone, and biting the elves that dared to come near him. He reminded Jack of a wet cat; angry at the world, and ready to lash out at whomever was closest.

“That’s it!” Jack declared, slamming his staff down in frustration after Pitch lashed out at him. He’d been attempting to pick the kid up, as flying had seemed to make him less moody; at least for a little while. He turned and gestured to the nearest elf. “You. Pointy. Tell North to watch Pitch. I’m calling in for reinforcements.”

When he flew out of the workshop, he took a moment to enjoy the cool, crisp air. All week he’d been cooped up inside dealing with Pitch. It felt amazing to be back in his element. A particularly violent scream behind him reminded him of his mission, and he took off towards the sky, letting the wind guide him to his destination.

He took the long way on purpose, partially to enjoy the first bit of peace and quiet he’d had in days, partially because he missed the simple joy of flying with the breeze at his side and the stars to his back. His target was visible from miles off, and eager to see his friend, he put on a burst of speed.

Gold sand spiraled out in hundreds of different directions, seeking out sleepers to give good dreams to.  Sandy waved when he caught sight of Jack, and greeted him with a smile. Jack was very hesitant to order his friends, as he was still getting used to the idea of even _having_ friends, but if he had to pick a favorite, it would probably be Sandy.

Ever since they had defeated Pitch, the Dreamweaver had been a constant companion in the night time sky. A year’s worth of practice had increased his skill at reading Sandy’s signs, and on most days, the two could keep up a fluid conversation. Not that they needed to talk. Sometimes they were content to just fly around, Jack watching Sandy work tirelessly. He had missed him this lasts week.

“Sandy!” Jack called out in greeting as he landed on the cloud.

A tiny sand snowflake appeared to dance around Sandy's head, before blowing off.

“I know, I know. It’s been a while!”

Sandy took a moment to look the boy over before something caught his attention. He tilted his head, pointed to the area below his eyes, and flashed a question mark.

Jack grimaced. He hadn’t realized how bad the bags under his eyes were. “I’ve been having a little problem with sleep.” He snorted. _Little_ problem indeed.

A tiny horse flew up, and Jack took a moment to puzzle the sign over.

“Nightmare?” He guessed.

Sandy nodded.

“Not exactly. Well, I guess you could call it a nightmare. It feels like one.”

Sandy’s brow narrowed, and Pitch’s silhouette appeared for a second, looking all wrong illuminated in dream sand. It flickered out quickly.

“Kind of. Um. Sandy I have a favor to ask. It’s going to sound really weird.” Jack fumbled with his staff for a second.

Sandy gestured for him to continue.

“Okay. Well, We kind of found Pitch. Well, I mean I found Pitch, but he’s not really Pitch. I mean he is, but he’s not like how he was. And North’s watching him now. At least I hope he is. Though with those elves you never know, so for all I know the _elves_ are watching him. And by watching, I mean risking an arm because _boy_ is he cranky. And then North’s going to wonder where I am, who’s babysitting, and why he has a bunch of elves with no arms, a Jack paused for air. “And I just really need your help because it’s been a week and I’m losing my mind.” Tugging on the ends of his hair, he looked to Sandy.

Sandy was staring at him, slack jawed. He probably looked crazy. He felt crazy.

“I’m not explaining this very well am I?”

Sandy shook his head slowly.

“Sorry. It’s just that I think my ears are still ringing. This is the first time I’ve heard silence in days.” He twirled his staff before pulling it close. “Okay. Short, sweet, and to the point, Frost.” He said to himself.

“Alright. I found Pitch, like a week ago. But he’s young again. Like really little. And he doesn’t know who he is, at least it doesn’t seem like he does. And North and I have been taking care of him. And by taking care I mean trying not to pull our hair out and cry, because seriously, that’s all that’s happening at the workshop right now. And screaming. Lots of screaming. We kinda need your help now.” Jack smiled nervously out at Sandy, who was staring at him. “So yeah. That’s all.”

Sandy raised a finger, as if to speak, and then shrugged in confusion. Jack tried to hide his dismay, but something must have shown on his face, for after a pause, Sandy gestured between the two of them, and then the direction of North’s workshop.

“You’ll help?” he asked, hopefully. Sandy waved his hands out in front of himself. _No promises._

The two of them made quick progress back to the workshop, Now that Sandy had agreed to come with him, he felt a weight lift off of his chest. It had been hard trying to do this with just him and North, and while he wanted to get the rest of the Guardians involved, he didn’t want to do it until Pitch could at least control his temper.

Sandy might know more than North had. He might even know how to turn Pitch back into a grown-up, or at the very least, give him back his memories. Okay, that was a long shot. More likely, he’d just be able to put Pitch to sleep. At this point, he’d take what he could get. Dealing with Pitch was exhausting. While the spirits didn’t sleep much, they did need to at times, especially when their energy was running low or when they were particularly stressed. The same went for eating; they didn’t have to, but could.

He and North had discussed at length why Pitch required both, like the mortal children, when he clearly hadn’t been eating or sleeping in his lair. They’d thrown around different ideas. Maybe Pitch should have been eating and sleeping, but hadn’t. It could explain why he was so stunted and thin.

Pitch was still growing. Spirits weren’t meant to be little, and maybe sleeping and eating would help him grow up faster than time alone. Of course, for this theory  to work, Pitch would have to actually be eating his food, instead of mashing it to pieces and smearing it all over himself and the table. If he wasn’t moody, he was messy. Why did humans have kids? They grew up to be more fun, but this stage right here, he wouldn’t mind avoiding. Sophie wasn’t like this. Why couldn’t Pitch have been like Sophie? Then again, Sophie was a girl. Maybe they operated under different rules.

North’s workshop came into view ahead of them, and Jack mentally braced himself. Who knew what state it would be in when they got there. Sandy brought the cloud lower to the ground, and the two floated down. Not bothering to knock, the duo made their way through the house using the fuss to guide their way.

Pitch was in the study, the same room that Jack had left him in; North had joined him as well. Elves ran around in the fray.  Pitch was under one of the tables, so Jack couldn’t see what was happening until he walked into the room. Pitch had taken one of the elves who had wandered too close hostage, and was now sucking on the bell at the tip of it’s hat. North was attempting to talk him out from under the table, with no luck.

“Pitch, is not good to chew on small things. You do not know where it has been.” North tried to reach under the table, but his girth stopped him.

Jack rubbed a hand over his face before he stormed into the room. His Sheppard staff made quick work of pulling Pitch out from under the table, and he held the child aloft.

“Spit it out.” He demanded.

Pitch let go of the bell with a wet pop, and the elf fell to the floor. It grumbled for a few minutes, dismayed at being covered in drool, before joining the rest of the elves.

“I’m gone for an hour, and you start taking hostages?” Jack asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Dack!” Pitch exclaimed, making grabby hands from where he hung.

The frost spirit sighed, and then proffered the boy to North. The older Guardian plucked the child off of the end of his staff. Then he turned to look at Jack.

“Where did you go? I get call from elves that Pitch is making trouble, and you are gone.”

Jack rubbed the back of his head. “I was worried about that. I told one of the elves to get you, but I guess the message got lost in transit. I went to get some help.” He gestured behind him.

North looked up, taking in Sandy for the first time.

“Ah! Sandy. Why I not think of that sooner?” He hit the side of his head with his hand. “Maybe things would not have been so bad if we had this idea earlier.”

“We?” Jack muttered under his breath.

Sandy walked into the room, wary of the elves.

“Pitch, this is Sandy. Sandy, Pitch.” Jack said, making introductions.

“Say hi to Sandy.” North encouraged.

“Nooooooooo.” Pitch dragged out as he struggled to get out of North’s grasp.

Jack leaned on his staff. “Sorry. No is his favorite word right now.”

“Down!” Pitch demanded.

Propping his staff against a wall, Jack took Pitch back from North. “No. Last time I put you down, you tried to eat an elf.”

Pitch let out a growl. “Dooown!”

“Up.” Jack said, shifting his grip until Pitch rested on his hip.

The boy let out a frustrated cry, and snapped at Jack’s arm.

“Hey. No. You know better than that. No biting” Jack held Pitch out at arms length. “You are being an absolute brat in front of Sandy.”

“Nooooo.”

“Yeeees,” Jack drawled out.

Pitch struggled for a bit, kicking and screaming before going limp in his arms.

“Ya done, Cranky? Tire yourself out?” Jack asked as he readjusted his grip, setting Pitch back on his hip. “You know, you’d feel a lot better if you would just go to sleep.”

“Nooo!” Pitch shrieked.

Jack winced and looked to Sandy. “Wanna lend me a hand, Buddy?” he asked as he tilted his head towards Pitch.

Sandy made quick work of conjuring a small bit of Dream Sand and aiming it towards the child. Jack sighed in relief when he felt the smaller boy slump against him. Golden butterflies fluttered in circles against his head. Huh. That was interesting. He was pretty sure that the last time he'd seen Pitch dreaming, there were butterflies as well. What did that mean?

“Oh, thank goodness.” Jack muttered when Pitch didn’t stir as he walked across the room towards the over-sized armchairs. Jack settled Pitch into one of them. He pulled the cloak’s hood up, and adjusted it until the boy was covered. Once he was satisfied with the makeshift blanket, he turned back to Sandy.

“You, my friend, are officially my hero. Do you have any idea what I would give to be able to do that? Seriously, you are a lifesaver.”

Sandy swelled up under the praise, and then turned to North with a giant sand question mark.

“Is long story. I have been meaning to get the Guardians together to discuss.” North waved his hands around. Only is been very busy last week. Lots to do.”

“Yeah, and it’s hard to get anything done when Pitch is being, well, Pitchy.” Jack snorted at the pun, and slumped into the other armchair. “I have never wanted to pick up a child and shake them until they behaved, until now that is.” Jack sighed.

“You do not show it.” North noted. “You are very good with him.”

Jack didn’t feel like he was good. He felt totally lost. Then again, he was a big brother. Maybe that helped. Jack closed his eyes and draped a hand across his face.

“It’s a lot easier when he’s not being cranky.” He couldn’t stop the yawn that escaped from him. North and Sandy were here. Pitch was asleep. “Man. I think I’m just going to.” Jack trailed off suddenly exhausted. He heard North murmur something, but he was asleep before he could decipher it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I'd like to apologize for how long this took. My computer crashed, and I was dumb and hadn't done a backup in a while. So I lost all of my newer fics I'd been working on. It took me a while to get a new computer. On the bright side, I have been working on this, and have several chapters mostly written out. 
> 
> I have also updated/edited this entire fanfic, as of June 8th. Content should now be clearer, grammatical errors should be removed, and it should be overall easier to read. Please feel free to point out any further mistakes.
> 
> Extras and commentary can be found [on my tumblr](http://lyllytas.tumblr.com/tagged/ppattt)


	4. Breakfast and a Bargin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys may have noticed the shiny new title. I've also done some minor editing on the older chapters. Nothing really plot wise though, so you don't have to re-read it!

Jack woke in stages. He heard a soft huffing, and there was a solid weight on his chest. His eyes opened slowly, and he jerked back immediately when he came face to face with another set of eyes.

“Pitch!” He said after the moment’s recognition. “You startled me.” Pitch was laying on his chest, and staring at him intently. It reminded Jack of a cat.

Jack set up slowly, taking in the room around him. He remembered talking to North and Sandy in the study when he fell asleep, but now he was in his, no their, room. Someone must have moved them while they slept. And how needed that sleep had been. He felt incredible. Pitch looked better too.

“Hey, buddy.” Jack said as he stretched. “You hungry? I’m starving. In fact, I’m so hungry, I don’t think I can make it to the kitchen. I think I’ll have you for breakfast instead.” Jack reached forward and grabbed Pitch.

The toddler squealed when Jack pretended to bit into his tummy.“Nom nom nom!”

“No eat!” Pitched laughed. 

Jack quirked an eyebrow up.  “I can’t eat you? Well how do you feel about THIS? He pushed Pitch’s shirt out of the way and blew several wet raspberries on his ash grey belly.”

“Noo!” Pitch squealed again and tried to squirm out of his grasp.

“Where are you going?” Jack asked as he tickled Pitch’s sides, stopping only when the squeals turned into full blown screams.

“Okay, okay.” Jack said pulling his arms back. “I am hungry though. You probably are too. What do you say we go get something to eat for real?”

“Eat! Eat!” Pitch demanded.

“Alrighty then.” Sliding out of bed, he knelt down. “Piggy back ride?”

Pitch clambered onto his back, and once Jack was sure the boy had a secure grasp, he took off towards the kitchen.

Jack set about making breakfast, not an easy task when you had a two year old who insisted that they be picked up. He finally settled on oatmeal; quick and easy to make. Of course, he would probably regret it when he had to clean Pitch up after breakfast. If there was one thing Pitch was good at, it was getting food everywhere. If Pitch got his choice of breakfast, they’d eat cookies every day. The boy had a mean sweet tooth, another thing for the Tooth Fairy to be freaked out about when they told her about the boy.

Jack divided the oatmeal into two bowls, making sure to fill one of the bowls half as much as the other. He glided to the dining room and set the oatmeal on the table.

“Oof“ Jack said as he set Pitch down in his chair. One of the yetis had produced it sometime during the first week, a fact which Jack was immensely grateful for. It was a sturdy, wooden thing- a mix between a high chair, and a booster seat, which fit Pitch perfectly. Jack made sure to cinch the strap tightly; Pitch had a habit of sneaking off halfway through breakfast when no one was paying attention and causing a terrible mess. He pushed the chair up till it was flush with the table, and then slid the smaller bowl of oatmeal to Pitch.

“Alright bud, let’s try to actually eat this today, not just play with it.”

Pitch ignored him, as well as the spoon, and gleefully dug into the bowl. Jack shook his head. He pointedly picked his spoon up and ate in quick bites. One day he was going to get Pitch to eat with a spoon. _That’ll be the day_ , Jack thought to himself.

Once breakfast had been, for the most part, eaten, Jack took a wet washcloth and wiped down Pitch’s hands and face.

“How did you get oatmeal behind your ears?” Jack asked as he threw the washcloth in the sink.

Pitch banged on the table with his hands. “Down!”

“Yes, my lord.” Jack said with an exaggerated bow, drawing giggles from Pitch. He unsnapped the belt, and set Pitch on the floor.

“I guess we should try to find North. Sandy might still be around here too.”

Pitch tugged on Jack’s pant leg. “Wide!” Pitch exclaimed.

Jack leaned over and picked up the boy. “You know, you are getting faaaar to spoiled.”

Pitch huffed and kicked his legs against Jack’s side. “Wide!”

“Alright, Alright.” Jack laughed. “You’re awful bossy.”

Pitch made a delighted sound when Jack held his staff out to the side, and let his feet leave the ground. Pitch seemed to enjoy flying as much as he did.

He checked in on a few of the spots that North liked to hang out in, without luck. He finally found North in the Study. More accurately, he heard North’s voice coming from the study.

“Is like I say last night. Is different than before….Do not give me that face. A week now I have been watching, Pitch is good, is not that good.” Jack hesitated in his spot, hand frozen on the door knob.

“No, no, nothing like that…. Of course, Sandy. But Jack is Guardian. I trust his judgment.”

Oh. North was talking to Sandy about Pitch. That made sense. Jack knew they’d be having this conversation- had planned on having it last night before he fell asleep. Well, no use in putting it off. Jack knocked on the door to give the other Guardians a warning before he pushed the door open. Both older men turned to look at him from where they were sitting in the rooms two chairs.

“Morning North, Sandy.” Jack said, nodding to each in turn. Sandy waved in greeting.

“Ah, Jack. Pitch. How did you sleep?”

Jack grinned. “I have never felt better, and I’m pretty sure Peaches here slept the whole night through. It’s a miracle.” He turned to Sandy. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

Sandy gave him a cursory head tilt.

Jack detangled himself from Pitch, and set him down on the floor. “So, what’s up guys?”

Pitch wandered around the study while Jack made idle conversation, stopping when he reached one of the bookshelves. The books on this shelf all had glossy covers with golden print. Pitch pulled out the nearest one, and tilted the cover to catch the light. Unlike the books that Jack read to him, these had no pictures. He quickly grew bored of them.

Jack had been in the middle of telling Sandy the whole story; how he found Pitch, and what they’d been up to since then, when the slow, deliberate sound of ripping paper jarred him mid sentence. The trio whirled around the room, looking for the source of the sound. Jack spotted Pitch first, and darted across the room.

“Pitch, No!” Jack said sternly as he tried to pull the book out of Pitch’s hands before he could rip another strip out.

“NO.” Pitch  yelled back, refusing to let go of the book.

Jack drew his mouth in a tight line, and attempted to pry Pitch’s fingers from the side of a book. Were all toddlers this strong when it came to fighting?

North came up beside them and picked Pitch up. While he was distracted, Jack pulled the book out of his hands. When Pitch noticed that the book was gone, he let out a high pitched scream. Jack closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. And so began the first meltdown of the day.

“What about I take him out until he calms down?” North suggested. “ You finish telling Sandy story.”

“Thanks.” Jack exhaled. North turned and left the room. Jack waited until the screams had moved far enough down the hallway to be muffled before he turned to face Sandy again. He rubbed a hand sheepishly behind his head.

“Sorry about that. He, um, he does that sometimes, well, okay, he does that a lot of the time. I should have known better than to take my eyes off of him; he’s a regular troublemaker.”

Jack examined the book in his hands. A strip of about two inches was torn out of one of the pages, and the rest were bent and crinkled from where they had fought for custody of the book. Great. Another thing to replace. He sighed and put the book on the coffee table in front of the arm chair, and then slunk down into said chair.

Sandy turned to Jack from where he was sitting. He seemed to be looking for an explanation of what had just happened.

“I told you that he has no memory, right?”

Sandy nodded when Jack paused.

“It’s like a blank slate. He has no idea between right and wrong, and things that are okay to do, and things that are not. He barely knows how to talk. In addition, on top of that, he’s also two.” Jack said with a shrug. “I spend a lot of time with kids. They’re called “The Terrible Twos” for a reason.”

Sandy seemed to accept his explanation.

“He’s better today, actually. This last week has been horrible. I think sleep really helped.”

Sandy perked up at this, golden sand flashing above his head in three “Z’s’

“I know, I’ve been trying to make him take naps and get plenty of sleep, but he flat out refuses. It’s like he’s scared to go to sleep or something.” Jack paused, contemplating his words. “Actually, that kind of makes sense. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be stuck down in that place for a year with those Nightmares? I bet every time he’d go to sleep, they attack. Heck, I’d be scared to sleep too.”

Sandy rested his chin on one of his hands and eyed Jack critically.

“Look, I’m not saying that Pitch didn’t deserve some kind of punishment for what he did. He attacked us, almost destroyed everything we stand for, and he lost. But this Pitch, he’s not the same guy that did all of that. He’s practically a baby. What kind of Guardian would I be if I left him down there? What would it say about me if I didn’t do my best now to make up for the fact that not once did any of us realize what had happened to him. We were happy thinking that he’d been beaten; that we’d won. None of us noticed for a YEAR.”

Jack slammed his staff down on the ground, and Sandy looked up at him, clearly startled. Jack shakily inhaled a breath. He didn’t even remember standing up. He tried to compose himself as he sat back down.

Jack sighed “I feel guilty.”

Sandy flashed a giant sand question mark over his head.

“If I hadn’t have happened to spot that nightmare a week ago, he’d still be down there. None of us would be any the wiser. Maybe one day he might have faded away, eaten away by terror while not even knowing who he was, or why he was there. We’re supposed to protect children.” He said, slumping back in the chair. “We missed one.”

Sandy’s face crinkled in thought.

“We have a chance to make a change. I don’t know what’s going to happen if he ever gets his memory back, or if he gets big again. I have no idea if that’s ever going to happen. But I do know that I’m not going to abandon him. I was alone from the minute I became Jack Frost. I didn’t understand anything, and I didn’t have anyone to turn to. It was lonely.” Jack shook his head to clear his mind of old hurts. “I can’t let a kid go through that. Yeah, he’s a lot of work. Taking care of him is exhausting, and I have no idea if I’m even up to the task. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to try. North helps me, which is nice. I need help.”

Sandy grabbed Jack’s hand in his own- when had Sandy gotten there? He’d been so wrapped up in his speech that he hadn’t even noticed the Dreamweaver moving. In golden Dream Sand, the Guardian illustrated a miniature version of himself in the process of spreading Dream Sand, then a tiny version of Pitch appeared.

“Are you, are you saying you’ll help too?” Jack asked with baited breath.

Sandy nodded, and the images were replaced with an hourglass in which sand slowly trickled down.

Jack pondered the newest pictogram. “Timer… You’ll help for a certain amount of time?”

Sandy nodded again.

“What’s the countdown? How long do I have?”

Sandy pointed at himself

“Your call? Oh thank you, Sandy! Really, you have no idea how much this means to me.” Jack threw himself at the other spirit, and engulfed him in a hug. Sandy patted Jack’s back as the frost spirit spun them around. When Jack finally released him, Sandy floated down to the floor.

“Really though, I appreciate it.”

Sandy raised his hands in the universal “No problem” sign, and then tilted his head towards a wooden clock that was sitting on the mantle above the fireplace. With a wave, Sandy left the room. It may have only been 10 am here, but it was always bedtime somewhere. Quite frankly, Jack was amazed that Sandy had devoted almost a whole 12 hours to them. _How many kids went without good dreams because of me tonight?_ He couldn’t help the thought that filtered across his mind. Well there was no use being upset about it now. It was done with. Besides, if his plan worked, they’d be saving lots of kids from nightmares in the long run.

Secure in the knowledge that he wasn’t in this alone, that he had friends to help him out, Jack left the room in search of his charge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short! This chapter was a lot harder to write than I thought it would be! I have a LOT more appreciation now for people who can write Sandy! Jack also kind of ran let his feelings get away.
> 
> Commentary and such can be found [on my tumblr](http://lyllytas.tumblr.com/tagged/ppattt)
> 
> Thanks for this chapter go to the wonderful [ HP Obsessed](http://archiveofourown.org/users/hpobsessed) who is my constant sounding board, and inspiration.


	5. The Morning After the Meltdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack learns that some things are harder than they look, and Pitch gets his own space

After Sandy left, Jack went in search of North and Pitch. The workshop was quiet for once, and it took Jack a while to find them. When he finally did come across them, they were in the kitchen. Pitch was strapped down in his chair, and North was directly across from him.

“Hey guys.” Jack greeted.

Pitch greeting him with a shrill squeal.

“Ah, Jack Frost.” North boomed. “All is well?”

“Yep” Jack said with a nod. “I explained everything to Sandy, the little man’s agreed to help us out for the time being.”

“That is good!” North said as he turned back to what he was working on.

“So what are you guys doing?” Jack said as he moved closer.

North held out his hands which were covered in bright colored paint. “We are doing the painting of fingers! I am making Guardians!” North indicated the table in front of him. Jack saw several sheets of paper spread out around North, one of which had be the one he mentioned. There were several brightly colored fingerprints which resembled the Guardians – If Jack squinted. There was also several mundane things, Christmas trees, ornaments, and elves. The one that caught Jack’s attention was a crude rendering of what he assumed was himself and Pitch. He leaned across the table to pick it up.

“Hey look, Pitch, it’s us.” Jack said as he held up the picture. Pitch paused his ministrations from where he was attempting to smear each color of paint over every surface of the paper, which was ending up in a gooey brown mess.

"Jack-Jack!" Pitch squealed and then slammed his hands into the paper. Paint splattered over the table. Jack winced at the mess, but North simply waved it off.

"Is no big deal. You think I give non-washable paint to child? Ha! I am smarter than that! See, I even put on big, old shirt on him. Now, come join us, Jack!"

Jack looked at Pitch, noticing for the first time that North had indeed given him in an older shirt to use as a smock.

"Alright, alright." Jack agreed. "Hey Peaches, do you need a new piece of paper? I'm pretty sure you’ve painted that one into submission."

Pitch didn't respond, not that Jack expected an answer. Most of the time he talked at Pitch and hoped that at least some of what he said was getting through to the boy. He went ahead and slid the wet, muddy brown page away from Pitch's reach and put a new paper in front of him. There was a second where Jack thought Pitch was going to get upset about losing his current project, but he calmed down quickly enough.

Crisis averted, Jack sat down at the table across from North, and far enough away from Pitch that he wouldn't get splashed by any splattered paint. He rolled up his sleeves and grabbed one of the blank sheets from the pile in the center of the table. The blank paper stared up at him, almost mockingly. What to paint, what to paint? Maybe Baby Tooth? Decision made, Jack set to work. The colors were limited to blue, green, red, yellow, and black, but he saw that North had set out plates for which they could mix colors to create others. He quickly lost himself in the work. It turned out, painting with your fingers was a lot harder than it looked. He looked up to ask North if he had any paint brushes that he could use, but found the jovial Guardian suspiciously absent.

"North?" He called as he stood up.

"In here!" North replied from the adjacent room. Jack peeked his head into the kitchen to see what the other man was doing. North was puttering around the island in the kitchen, humming a Christmas carol under his breath.

"Whatcha doing?" He asked.

"I am making lunch!" North proclaimed, indicating the plates in front of him. Jack floated over to the island. Two of the plates held the fixings for regular sandwiches, while the other had a peanut butter and banana sandwich cut into four small triangles. All three plates were bordered with long slices of baby carrots "You want to wash Pitch, or you want me do it?"

"It's cool, I got it. You keep," Jack waved his hands around "making lunch." He grabbed a washcloth and ran it under the tap. Then he went back into the dining room to grab Pitch. "Hey bud. You ready for lunch?"

"Eat, eat, eat!" Pitch clapped his sticky hands together.

"Okay, well then let's go get cleaned up!" First things first, he took the oversized shirt off of Pitch and used it to wipe down Pitch's hands. He looked around for a place to stick the shirt, but saw none. Shrugging, he left it on the corner of the table. Then he unsnapped the strap holding Pitch down.

He flew Pitch into the kitchen and set him on the counter."Alright, kiddo. Hold still."

Jack had the routine pretty much down pat, but Pitch liked to be difficult. Today was better, mainly Pitch babbled nonsense words to Jack instead of pulling his arms away or lashing out in frustration. It didn't take long to clean Pitch up. He set him down on his hip, and then went back into the dining room. After making sure both doors were securely closed he set Pitch down.

The majority of the paintings were dry by now, and Jack quickly stacked those on top of each other. The fridge was covered in magnets, and Jack had little doubt that several of these paintings would end up proudly displayed for all to see. The wet paintings were easily moved out of the way to the far end of the large table near Pitch’s smock. Jack capped all of the paints, and then using the rag he had used to wash Pitch, he gave the table a cursory wipe down, paying special attention to the area around Pitch's chair.

"Looks good to me!" Jack said to himself as he surveyed the room. He deposited Pitch in his chair and after checking the strap, he moved back to the kitchen. "Everything's cleaned." He told North. "We're ready if you are."

"Ah, good." North wiped his hands together to brush off the crumbs that the bread had left behind. "I am all finished here!" He gave Pitch's plate to Jack, and took the other two himself. "Lunch is served!"

Jack set Pitch's plate down in front of the high chair, and went back into the kitchen to get their usual drinks. North drank eggnog or milk, Jack preferred water and Pitch had developed quite the affinity for apple juice. Jack cut the apple juice with water and poured it into Pitch's sippy cup. They'd quickly learned that Pitch's motor skills were quite frankly, very poor. It was to be expected really. A year of neglect had a lot to answer for. The sippy cup had been the obvious solution to prevent headaches for everyone around.

He brought the drinks to the table and then sat down to eat. Pitch set to work making a mess in his usual fashion. At least it looked like he liked the filling; he seemed to enjoy licking it off of his fingers anyways. Jack shrugged it off. He _was_ eating after all. Jack turned his attention to his own plate.

They were halfway through lunch when North spoke.

"So Jack, I was thinking."

"Ut-oh" Jack said with a smirk. "I was wondering why there was smoke coming out of your ears.

"Ha ha. Verrrry funny." North drawled.

Jack shrugged in response as he chewed on a carrot . "Do tell, what were you thinking?" he said after he swallowed.

"Well. There is not many places in workshop for small child. No room to run about and play."

Jack felt the blood draining from his face. "Are you kicking us out?" Jack asked worriedly. If North asked them to leave, then Jack would have nowhere else to go. You can't watch out for a toddler when you sleep in trees and have to spread snow everywhere.

"Goodness, no!" North hurriedly denied. "I was simply thinking that it might be good idea for us to be making a room for Pitch. You know, someplace where he can play, or when needed, calm down." North picked up one of the carrot slices and waved it around while he spoke. "I have many rooms not being used, after lunch we go and pick out one."

Jack pondered the proposition. It would be good to have a playroom for Pitch. North was right when he said that the workshop wasn't a really good place for Pitch to wander around. There were lots of machines, and Jack constantly worried that whenever he couldn't find Pitch, the boy would be down in the workshop accidentally getting hurt or getting in the way. Now that Pitch was used to them as well as the workshop, perhaps he’d even be okay with sleeping by himself. If anything, It would give them a good place to store Pitch's growing collection of things.

"That's actually a really good idea, North." Jack beamed with a smile.

"Of course is good idea. I thought of it."

Jack huffed out a laugh. "You're just filled with good ideas, right?"

"Yes. Well, someone has to come up with ideas for presents to make children happy."

Jack cocked his head. "I thought the Yetis did all of the work."

North boomed out a laugh. "Yetis do work, but I come up with ideas!"

"I see" said Jack.

They spent the rest of their lunch discussing toys that North was working on, as well as what they could put in Pitch's new room. It would have to have a dresser for sure; North had arranged for the yetis make a whole lot more clothes after it had become obvious that there was no way the toddler could make it through the day in a single outfit. He was simply too messy for that. A bed of some sort was obvious. They would probably need a place to store the toys that they would put in the room. Jack mentally added a toy box to the growing list of furniture. Pitch never really played with toys, but then he'd been really upset this past week. Maybe now that he was going to be getting regular rest, he'd be less grumpy and more likely to play with things. Having his own space would probably help him open up as well.

Once they had finished eating and cleaning up after themselves, North turned to Jack.

"Where would you like room?"

Jack had been thinking about it during lunch, and quickly replied. "I was wondering, are there any empty rooms left in the hallway that my room is in? It might be good to keep his room close to mine, that way I can keep an eye on him when need be."

"I think I know just the room!" North exclaimed, and with that the trio were off.

\- - - -

Jack looked around the room that North had led them to. It shared a wall with Jack's room, and it was perfect. There was a built in bookshelf in one of the walls as well as a dresser. There was a closet on one side of the room, and a window on the other. There was a large bed already in the room, but North quickly mentioned to Jack that he would get something more suitable for a young child. There was space under the window or along the wall for a toy box.

"You don't think he'll get of the window if we stick a toy box under it, do you?" Jack asked. "He's always getting into things."

"I do not believe that he will be able to, but I can make it so window does not open."

"Great!" Jack said as he examined the room. "What do you think, Pitch, will this room do?" There was a dark green plush rug in the center of the room, which Pitch had instantly fallen in love with. The boy was currently running his hands across the rug. "I think that's a yes." Jack said with a laugh as he turned back to North.

"Good." North said. "You want to look at toys now? I need to talk to Yetis about making furniture. We can get both done at once."

"Okay, that sounds like a plan to me" Jack went over to get Pitch. "Now then, kid. Are you done petting the rug? North thought you might like some toys to put in your new room. You don't have any toys yet."

"Toys?" Pitch looked up at him with big gray-gold eyes.

"Yep! You'll like toys! They're lots of fun to play with! My favorite are the blocks, because you can build anything in the whole wide world if you use your imagination! Of course, they don’t make any fun noises or have cool lights like some toys. Lego’s are really fun too, but I don’t think you’re big enough for those. You sir, like to eat things." He tweaked Pitch’s nose

“Eat?” Pitch questioned as he shoved Jack’s hand away.

“Bub, I hate to break it to you, but we just had lunch, It’s not time to eat. It’s time to play! Come on, don’t you wanna see all the cool toys?

North laughed at this. "This is going to be interesting."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked as he picked up Pitch.

"I am not sure who is going to have more fun picking out toys, Pitch, or you."

Jack stuck his tongue out at the other man. "You hear that Pitch, I think he's calling me childish. You never outgrow playing! Fun is my center after all. Bah! He’s just old. Right, Peaches?" Jack turned and walked out of the room towards the lift.

“You are a child to me.” North said sadly as he watched him go, “I do not mean it in bad way. There’s nothing wrong with being childish. But you are _child_ too. You think I do not know that you are attempting to stop Pitch from being lonely like you were?”

Jack didn’t seem to hear him. Perhaps North spoke to quietly, or maybe Jack was simply too far away to listen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be all fluff, but then North was like, hey, hey, HEY, I'm having feelings over here. I'll have to touch on those again later. The next chapter will be some filler/fluff too, and then we get to some real plot in chapter 7!


	6. Rome wasn't built in a day... Neither are bedrooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and North design a bedroom, Pitch mostly causes messes.

“You coming or what?” Jack called through the hallway. He’d expected North to follow behind him when he pretended to storm out with Pitch. However when he had turned around, North wasn’t there.

The older man appeared a few moments later. “Yes, Yes, I’m coming. I just had idea. I must talk to Yetis.” North waved a hand dismissively. “Come, let’s go.

"Okay." Jack said as he continued following North to the lift. The ride down to the workshop floor went by quickly. As usual, even though it was the middle of summer, there was much commotion going on. It seemed like there was never a break for the yetis that made the toys for children the whole world round.

"Do you know where toy storage room is?" North questioned him as he walked out of the lift.

"Yeah, I know where it is." Jack answered as he glided behind him.

"Good." North said with a nod. "Pick out as much as you like. Anything you like, I will have it brought up."

"Thanks again, North." He gave North a bright smile.

"Is no problem" North said as he waved his hands in front of him. "Now, you go pick out toys. I must speak to Yetis about making things."

Jack waved the older Guardian off, and turned to look at his small charge. Let’s go have some fun, Peaches!" he darted forward, flying upwards. With a smile plastered onto his face, Pitch clung to his side. After a  few twists and turns, they found themselves in front of the large doors to the storeroom where all the completed Christmas toys were kept while waiting for the Guardian to ship them out. He tugged on one of the large doors, and it slid grudgingly to the side.

"Woah." Jack said as he took in the room. His voice echoed back to him. The room was huge. It felt like it deserved a building all to it's own. Boxes of toys were stacked all the way to the ceiling. Loose toys were placed in baskets and set on shelves. All sorts of colorful contraptions caught his eyes. Jack stepped into the room, making sure to slide the door closed behind him.

"I don't even know where to start. Quite frankly, I'm not even sure what half of these things are." He said as he placed Pitch down on the floor beside him, and took his hand. If he let Pitch roam free in here, he had no doubt that they boy would manage to pull something out of place and cause a chain reaction that would knock every single box to the floor.

After taking a closer look around, he noticed that things seemed to be loosely separated by the age of the child that they would eventually go to. One of the sections held many bright plastic toys.

"Well, I guess we can go ahead and start over here." He pulled Pitch along beside him. The boy followed him silently as he inspected the room around them.

"Well these are certainly colorful." Jack said as he held up a pyramid of rainbow colored rings on a peg. "What'dya think?" He set the rings down on the floor for Pitch to look at, and turned back to examine the shelf.

"Aha!" He exclaimed when he found what he was looking for. "Building blocks! A must have!" He selected two different sets of blocks and put them on the floor as well. A mass of wires and balls about a foot wide caught his attention."And this is a, well, I'm not sure what it is." He slid one of the balls forward on a winding loop. "But it looks interesting. It's coming with us."

Jack rummaged through the shelves looking for any other must haves. There was a lot of fake food. Was that a thing? Did children like to play with fake food? He had a feeling if he gave Pitch any fake food, the boy would try to eat it. He avoided those toys.

Joining the pile were several small, hard rubber animals, wooden puzzles, hard cardboard books, sorting games, and several squishy balls.

"Anything else? I think we got everything."

Pitch looked up from where he'd been digging through the bottom of another shelf which was in his reach.

"Did you find anything down there?" Jack asked as he stooped down to his level.

Pitch turned to Jack and held out what could only describe as a wooden mallet with a string on the end.

"What is that?" he asked as he looked through the shelf to see what it could possibly belong to. "Oh no." he muttered. The string was connected to a metal Xylophone. He'd been trying to avoid things that made much noise.

"Are you sure you want that one?" He asked trying to dissuade him.

"Play!" Pitch exclaimed happily.

Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Okay. Fine." He reached forward and picked it up.

"Well I think we've got everything we need. Wanna go find North and tell him we're done? Then we can take all of this stuff up to your room."

"Play?"

"Yes, Yes." Jack laughed. "And then we'll play; After naptime."

"No." Pitch said with a frown. "Not sleepy."

"Yes you are. You are getting veeeery sleeeepy."

"Uh- uh." Pitch moaned.

"Well too bad. It's almost naptime."

Pitch pouted at him, but Jack remained un-effected.

"What's wrong with naptime? I like naptime." Jack said more to himself than anyone else. "Come on kiddo. We're going to go find North, and then we're going upstairs and straight to bed! The sooner you take a nap, the sooner we can set up your new playroom!"

Pitch remained silent. Jack slid the large door open and exited the room.

"North's probably still talking to the Yetis. We didn't take that long, so he can't have gone far." Jack floated through the familiar pathways through the Yetis’ workstations, looking for the older Guardian. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted North's large frame. He was in the middle of an animated conversation between two of the large, furry creatures. He held a pencil in his hands, waving it over the desk. The yeti's grumbled back and forth.

"Hey North!" Jack called when they got closer.

"Hello boys." North said, turning his full attention on them. "You are finished?"

"Yep! I think we got a pretty decent selection."

"Very good!" North said as he set his pencil down. "We are pretty much finished here as well. Bed should be finished in a day or two, and then you can have your room back to yourself!"

"Speaking of that, I was just getting ready to take Pitch upstairs. It's just about time to put him down for a nap." Hopefully, he'd actually sleep this time. Naptime had never really gone over well with Pitch. The boy spent most of the time throwing temper tantrums and wearing himself out without really getting any sleep. Still, Jack stuck to his convictions. Two-year olds need their sleep. Besides, It might go better now that Pitch was actually sleeping at night.

"Ah." North spoke, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Did you need any help?"

Jack shook his head. "I think I've got this. I'm probably going to need help getting those toys upstairs, though."

North waved him off. "I already told you, we will take care of that. You go put Pitch to sleep. I will stay here and finish this up!"

"Sure thing!" Jack said. Tilting his head goodbye, he turned and headed back the way they came.

Once they were back in his room, Jack released his grip on Pitch and lowered him to the floor.

Pitch slumped onto the ground. Jack cocked an eyebrow at the child's antics.

"Come on, kiddo. Get ready to take a nap."

"Noooooo!" Pitch whined.

"None of that. We had a really busy day today. You're probably really tired."

"Don't wanna!" Pitch said as he slapped the floor.

Jack sighed. "We all have to do stuff we don't want to do." He lowered himself until he was resting on his heels."But naps are good. They give you lots of energy and make you feel better. Don't you want to have lots of energy to play with your new toys?"

Pitch whined in response.

Patience lost, Jack scooped Pitch up as he stood and walked over until he was standing above the bed. He dropped Pitch gently onto the mattress. The boy rolled over in a huff. When it became obvious that he was going to be no help, Jack plucked the slippers off of his feet and set them on the floor next to the bed. Working the covers out from beneath the boy's supine form was a bit trickier, but manageable.

"Have a good nap." He said as he ruffled the boy's hair. Per norm, when Jack left the room, Pitch started screaming. He really didn't like being left alone, especially when it came to sleeping. Jack forced himself not to go back into the room. Pitch had to learn that tantrums wouldn't get him what he wanted. He needed to be able to sleep by himself. Sandy was taking care of the good dreams at night. Nap time was up to Pitch.

After double checking that the door was securely latched behind him, Jack slipped into the room that was to be Pitch's. Someone had come in while they were gone and removed the full sized bed from the room. It seemed empty without it. The room had a certain echo to it, that would no doubt not help to dampen the sound whenever Pitch had a meltdown. It would probably be better once they'd moved more things in.

He mentally organized the room in his head. The new bed would go along the wall with the closet in it. The wall the bed faced towards held the window, and was were the toy box would go. The wall parallel to the bed had the built in bookcase, as well as a dresser. The wall across from the window held the door to the hall, and was blank. Maybe North would let them do some painting? The white walls were so bland. Some color or a mural would go a long way.

Jack mentally made a note to ask North about his opinion. Inspection finished, Jack decided to go downstairs and find said Guardian. The wind slid around his feet, and he took off to the place where he'd last seen the man. He decided to forgo the lift, instead flying through the air

The Yetis were mostly used to him now, though they would grumble at him if he got too close and the wind messed up whichever project they were working on. He gave them a wide berth as he flew overhead while searching for North. Red fabric caught his eye, and he darted downward.

"I'm back!" He said as he placed his feet upon the ground.

North turned around to greet him. "That was quick."

"Yeah, I know." he said with a shrug. "Usually he puts up more of a fuss. I guess he really was tired today."

He turned his attention to the workstation. "So what are we doing?"

"We are making plans."

"Ok," Jack said as he moved closer to the desk. "What kind of plans?"

"Bed plans!" North said as he indicated the blue paper laying flat out on the desk.

"Oh." Jack leaned in and examined the plans closely. "Um, North. That looks like a crib."

"It is crib." North said.

"But I thought we were making him a bed?" Jack asked in confusion.

"It is bed."

Jack rubbed a hand across his face. "Well it can't be both."

"Sure it can!" North said as he pointed to the side of the crib. "This part comes off. When we need to, side can come off." North drew his hand back. "We thought it might be better. This way he can get used to sleeping on his own without us constantly going in room to check on him. And then when crib is no longer needed, we take both sides of, and is normal bed for toddler."

"Huh." Jack leaned back. "That's actually pretty smart. It’ll keep him in bed, and I also don't have to worry about him falling out of the bed without me there to stop him. You don't think that he's too old for a crib, though, do you?"

North shrugged. "We will find out in few days when crib is ready."

"So what do we do till then?"

"He is doing good with you so far, if you do not mind staying with him a few days more?"

"Yeah, sure." This might actually work out okay. They'd have time to get Pitch used to his new room before he actually had to spend any time there alone. Speaking of Pitch's room...

"Did you want to set up room for Pitch while he is sleeping?" North asked him.

"Yeah, for sure. It'll be a lot easier to do it without him running underfoot." Jack stretched his arms out behind him, and couldn't help the laugh that escaped from him. North gave him an odd look.

"Well, it's just that if you had told me a few weeks ago that I would be helping design a child's bedroom for Pitch Black, I would have laughed you all the way to Burgess and back. But now that I'm actually living it, well, it's strange how much fun I'm having."

"Life is funny that way, Jack. Just when you think that you know what is happening, world goes topsy-turvy and boom, you end up doing things that you never thought you'd do."

"Yeah, that's for sure." Jack scratched the back of his head. "So I guess I'll work on bringing all those toys up to Pitch's new room."

"I will come and help. We are mostly done. They can finish without me." North turned and gave the pair of Yetis a cursory wave and then the two of them headed off to the storage room. North stopped outside and grabbed what looked like a large bin on wheels.

"This way, we only are make one trip." He explained and slid the door open with much more ease than Jack had been able to manage. He pushed the bin into the room and looked around. "I am guessing those are coming with us?" North asked as he indicated the pile that Jack had made on the floor. Jack nodded, and the two of them set to work loading the bin. North added in a couple more toys of his choosing; some soft plush animals and some toys that North said were supposed to be good for improving motor skills.

Once they were finished, North pushed the bin out of the room while Jack slid the door closed. They rode the lift up to the ground floor and headed towards the bedrooms. Jack was happy to note that Pitch wasn't screaming or crying anymore. Maybe he'd actually fallen asleep.

Taking care not to create too much noise and wake Pitch up, North pulled the bin into the room, and the two set to work unloading the toys. For now, most of the toys were scattered on the floor and bookshelf. Once they got a toy box, then the room would be less cluttered.

"Well, it certainly looks like a little boy lives here." Jack said as he stepped back to admire his work. North muttered an affirmative.

"Do you want to show Pitch?" North asked him.

"Yeah, for sure. I'll go get him." Jack slipped out of the room.

North pulled the wheeled bin out of the room, and pushed it to the side of the hallway where he could grab it later, then he went to join Jack. He peeked his head into Jack's room, and had to pause at the sight. The youngest Guardian was on the floor, doubled over in silent laughter.

"Jack?" North asked quietly. The boy waved him over.

"Look." Jack said with a smile.

North bent over to see what Jack was looking at. There, curled up under the bed, was one sleeping Pitch Black. He had to let out a chuckle at that. Once they'd collected themselves, Jack stood up, and motioned him back out of the room.

"He looks so peaceful. Let's let him sleep a little longer."

He gently closed the door behind them. He'd have to be careful not to let him sleep too long, or the boy wouldn't go to sleep at night.

"I think I shall go back to work. Yeti's are probably fine, but someone has to keep an eye on the elves." North said as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Alright man, have fun! I'll stay up here till Pitch wakes up. Dinner at our usual time?"  Jack asked him. North nodded an affirmation. The Guardian didn't usually eat lunch with them, but he made a point to come upstairs each day and eat dinner. The two split up, and Jack headed back into the bedroom.

Jack bent down next to the bed "What is it with you and sleeping in the most uncomfortable places?" he asked the prone figure. He hadn't even taken the blanket with him, instead he was sleeping with his cloak. He gently pulled Pitch out from under the bed. The boy was a little dusty, but not too bad. Jack set to work brushing the dust off. When he was finished, Pitch was blinking himself awake. Pitch yawned, giving him a full view of his gums and teeth.

""Hello Sleeping Beauty. I know it's only June, but Santa came early." Jack said as he stood up and took Pitch's hand. "Come on" He led the boy next door into his own room. "What do you think?" Jack said as he pushed the door open.

For the next couple of hours, they explored the room and played with the toys, then around 5, they headed downstairs to eat. North was already in the kitchen getting dinner ready. A couple of elves were running around causing trouble. Pitch let go of Jack's hand and went to chase after the elves. Jack rolled his eyes at their antics and stepped over to where North was chopping something.

"Need any help?" Jack asked as he looked over the pots. Today's meal included peas, rice, and small cubes of chicken.

"I am okay with this." North said with a flick of the knife, "But you can set table."

Jack grabbed three plates from the cabinet along with silverware and made his way to the dining room. When he opened the door, the screaming elves took off into the next room, Pitch following close behind. The trio darted around the room, and Jack tried not to step on them while setting the table.

He moved back and forth between the rooms bringing out dishes and drinks. Once everything was set up and North had dished out plates, Jack took pity on the elves and opened the dining room door to let them escape into the hallway. He grabbed Pitch before he could escape as well and put him in his booster seat.

"Leave the elves alone, kiddo, it's time to eat."

Dinner actually went pretty smoothly for once. While Pitch didn't particularly care much for the rice, he happily squished peas between his fingers and munched on chicken. Overall, it was probably the least messy meal they'd had the entire time he'd been here. He and North had an amicable discussion about their plans for the coming day, and how long it would take for the Yeti's to complete building the furniture for the bedroom. Afterwards, the two of them cleared the table, dumping the dishes in the sink for the elves to clean up. North went to the top floor of the workshop, telling them that he wanted to work on some sculptures. That left Jack to give Pitch his bath and get him ready for bed.

"Peaches, You ready for your bath?" Jack asked as he unbuckled the boy and put him on the floor. When he opened the door to the hallway, Pitch took off in the opposite direction than the bathroom. Jack darted forward and landed in front of him. "Oh no you don't." Jack said as he leaned forward and grabbed Pitch's waist as he tried to run past.

Pitch kicked out at him, but Jack held him out far enough away that he didn't connect with anything.

"Stop that." Jack scolded him as they made their way to the bathroom.

"No!" Pitch shouted.

Jack raised an eyebrow at the child's antics. "You know, sometimes I think that you do the opposite of what I tell you to simply because I told you to do it."

Once they were in the bathroom with the door latched behind them, Jack let Pitch go. The bathroom was quite large, holding a double vanity on side, a storage rack for towels and such, and a bulky clawed tub was along the other wall. He turned on the taps and let the tub begin filling. There was a small bottle sitting on the floor next to the tub that caught Jack's attention. He picked it up and examined it, and a smile crossed his face. He opened the bottle and poured some under the water. Bubbles began to foam up instantly. Once he was happy with the temperature of the water, he turned his attention to Pitch.

Getting him undressed was always easier than dressing him; even when he was still fussing about having to take a bath. He untied the cloak that Pitch was so fond of and placed it on the vanity. Pitches slippers joined it. He left the shorts, shirt and underclothes on the floor; those would be washed, along with the towel that they were going to use.

After he finished undressing Pitch, he turned his attention back to the tub. It was filled up about halfway with water, which he tested the temperature with his fingers before turning the taps off. He rolled his sleeves up before picking Pitch up and depositing him in the water.

Once the boy was actually in the tub, he calmed down. He poked at the bubbles with interest, and pulled back his hands with a screech when the foam parted under his fingers. He slammed his hands into the foam, sending chunks of bubbles flying everywhere. He giggled as he did it again. Jack shot back out of the firing line, but was too slow. Foam bits covered him. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Pitch seemed happy though.

"Okay, okay. Bubbles are fun. Let's try to keep them in the tub though, How does that sound?" Jack said as he moved back to the tub. In response, Pitch splashed him again.

Ten minutes later, a knock at the door distracted him from where he was trying to get Pitch to hold still long enough for him to wash the shampoo out of his hair.

"Yeah?" He called out.

North poked his head into the room. "Jack I was... What happened?"

Jack looked at him from where he was kneeling on a solid sheet of ice, clothes covered in foam, ice, and soapy water.

"Pitch happened." He said simply, and turned back to the tub in time to catch Pitch trying to climb out. "Ah-uh!" He exclaimed as he grabbed the boy and put him back in the tub. Water sloshed over the edge of the tub, catching Jack straight in the face. He shook the water droplets off as best as he could. "Oh come on!"

"I see." North said as he took in the chaos unfolding around him.

"Out!"  Pitch declared.

"You can get out as soon as I finish." Jack said as he reached once more for the cup he'd been using to pour water over Pitch.

Finally he was able to get the last of the shampoo out, and he turned back to North, who had been watching them with an amused look on his face.

"Oh, you think this is funny? Maybe next time I'll let you give him a bath." Jack said as he pulled the drain out of the tub.

North stepped into the room and grabbed one of the over sized towels. He wrapped the towel around Pitch and plucked him out of the tub. Taking care not to slip on the ice that Jack had unintentionally created from the bathwater, North placed Pitch on the vanity and began to dry him off.

Jack grabbed one of the towels as well and tried to dry himself off as best as he could. His hoodie was pretty much frozen solid, so he peeled it off of himself and hung it over the edge of the tub to melt and drip dry.

He slung the towel over his shoulders and joined North.

"I left something in hallway." North said as he indicated that Jack should go get it.

Jack opened the door and looked around. On the floor near the door there was a small pile of black fabric. Jack reached over and held it up. It turned out to be a onesie like the ones that he sometimes saw small children wearing. He slipped back into the bathroom, holding the onesie up with a questioning look on his face.

"Children must have pajamas!" North said by way of explanation.

"I see." Jack said as he handed the piece of clothing to North who dressed Pitch.

"Elf told me there were going to be fresh cookies. I thought maybe you guys would like some too." North non sequitured.

"Huh?"

North picked the newly dressed Pitch up and passed him to Jack. "Cookies and bedtime story, go together. no?"

"Oh, yeah! That sounds great." Jack picked his staff up from where he'd left it leaning against the door.

"You two go get ready for bed, I will bring cookies and milk up."

Jack headed to his room and set Pitch down on his bed. He turned down the covers and let Pitch crawl in. "Stay here, Peaches. I'm going to go get a book." Jack darted across the hall to get one of the new books that he'd picked out earlier in the day. By the time he returned, North was back. In his hands, he had Pitch's sippy cup and a small plate with three cookies on it; one for each of them.

They munched on their cookies, and then let Pitch have his cup of warm milk. Then Jack slid in bed next to Pitch and opened the book he was holding. He took care to make sure Pitch could see the illustrations on the page

"Good Night Moon." He read the title page aloud. "In the great green room, there was a telephone..." Jack read out loud slowly, loosing himself in the pages. by the time he was finished the warm milk and his soothing voice had done their job. Pitch was asleep. Jack tucked the covers in around Pitch and slipped out of the room with North.

The two of them spent the rest of the night working on ice sculptures, slipping away when it was almost sunrise. Pitch would be awake soon, and then it would be time to start the day all over again.

-~-

It took a few days for all of the furniture to be completed and moved in. After that was done and the boy was moved into his own room, the days blurred into each other. Each morning after Pitch woke up, Jack would make breakfast. After cleaning up they’d go play in Pitch’s room until it was time for lunch. After lunch, came naptime, then they would either go outside to play in the snow, or they would spend time with North before the three of them ate dinner. Then Jack would give Pitch a bath, read him a book, and put him to bed. Rinse and repeat.

Over a week went by like this, it felt like he was starting to get the hang of things. Sure, it was a bit mundane. He did miss going out and spending time with the children, but Pitch needed him more right now. And it wasn’t like it was particularly boring. Being with Pitch was always interesting; the boy kept him on his toes. Jack was startled from his thoughts by a loud wail. He whipped around, searching for Pitch. The boy was slumped over on the ground next to the bed, crying.

"Pitch!" Jack darted forward, kneeling down by the boy. "What happened?" He looked around for an explanation for the toddler's behavior. A few moments ago, he had been happily playing on the floor while Jack entertained himself with one of Pitch's coloring books. He picked Pitch up, noticing a dark bruise forming on his forehead.

"Did you hit your head?" he asked as he rubbed Pitch's back.

Still crying, the boy nodded. Jack pulled the boy into a hug.

"I bet that really hurt. It looks painful."

"Bad bed." Pitch waggled a finger at the bed.

Jack tried to keep a straight face. "Bad bed indeed."

Pitch grabbed the edge of his cloak and used it to wipe his nose.

"Ew, gross." Jack said as he held Pitch out. "They invented tissues for a reason." he said with disdain.

"Gross, gross, gross." Pitch echoed cheerfully as he held out his cloak for Jack to inspect, prior hurt forgotten.

"Ew, no I don't want that. That came out of your nose."

Pitch let the cloak fall back around his shoulders, and Jack had to rest his head in his hands for a few moments. Kids. He really shouldn't be surprised.

"I hope you realize that now we've got to wash that." he said when he'd has a moment to collect himself.

"Bath?" Pitch questioned as he pointed to himself.

"Nope. Cloak is going to take a bath. We're is going to eat lunch and then you're going to take a nap. And then when you wake back up, Cloak should be nice and clean again." No doubt Pitch would find some new way to dirty the poor thing. He almost never took it off. Jack had learned that the easiest way to clean it was to take it off Pitch while he was asleep and wash it and then return it when he woke up.

"What shall we have for lunch today?" Jack asked as he exited the room, Pitch trailing behind him.

"Cookie!" Pitch shouted.

"Silly, we can't have cookies for lunch."

"Yes." Pitch said as he tugged on Jack's hand. "cookie."

"Maybe for desert. I bet we still have some spaghetti left over from yesterday’s dinner. Do you want some spaghetti? If you eat all of it, then you can have a cookie."

"Ok." Pitch hummed in content. "psketti and cookie."

Jack rolled his eyes. Pitch would agree to do anything for a cookie. Who knew the Boogeyman had such a sweet tooth?

Once they reached the kitchen, Jack dug through the fridge searching for the spaghetti. Once he'd found it and heated it up to just above lukewarm, he dished it onto two plates and headed back into the dining room.

"Lunch is served." Jack said in an accented voice as he slid the plate down in front of Pitch and put down a fork.

Pitch intermediately thrust his hand in the middle of the plate, smearing sauce everywhere.

Jack bit back his commentary. At least he'd agreed to eat it, what harm was there in him playing with it. Still, Jack longed for the day when Pitch would actually use his fork. It would make cleaning up after meals so much easier.

Once they'd finished eating and Jack had cleaned up, Pitch stared up at him expectantly.

"Cookie?"

"Yes yes, I didn't forget your cookie." He said as he searched the room for the constantly moving cookie jar. Once it had been located, he dipped his hand in and pulled out a cookie. He handed it to Pitch.

"You ate all of your lunch today. Would you like to go flying before naptime?"

Pitch paused from where he'd been jamming the cookie into his mouth. "Fly?"

"Uh huh." Jack said. "But you have to be really good and go to sleep right after. Can you do that?"

Pitch nodded, and Jack lowered himself down onto his heels. Pitch clambered onto his back, hands going around his neck. Jack put both arms out behind him, resting the staff below Pitch's bottom to hold him upright. They took off, flying through the maze of hallways. Jack made sure to take the longest route possible, avoiding any sharp turns in his effort to lull Pitch to sleep.

It was on this route that he ran into Phil making his way through the hallway.

"Hey Phil! What're you up to?" he asked as he hovered in place.

The Yeti grumbled to him, and indicated that someone was here and he was looking for North.

"Oh, okay. I'll keep my eye out for him. If I see him I'll tell him someone's here." Jack waved at the yeti and continued flying. Pitch was breathing heavily behind him. He must be asleep. Jack would give a cursory check around the workshop before he put Pitch to bed. The last thing he needed was for Pitch to fall off because he was asleep.

The most likely places North could be were either in underground workshop, the study, or what Jack had dubbed the "Globe Room". The last of which was the closest. No doubt Phil would take the workshop.

"Alright Peaches." Jack said as he took care to remain as horizontal as possible. "Let's go see if we can find North real quick." He moved one hand off of the staff and rested it on Pitch's back to hold him in place.Then he took off to the left. The Globe Room was directly ahead, and he let himself land so that he could open the door. He pushed the door open.

“Hey, Jolly One. Phil said there’s someone….” Jack said as he entered the room. North wasn't in the room, but someone else was.

 “Oh. Hey, Tooth.” Jack said with a nervous smile. Ready or not, it was time to introduce the Tooth Fairy to one very small Pitch Black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends the fluff, and we move right along into plot! In the next chapter, Tooth meets Pitch, and some serious talks are held.


	7. The Last To Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one likes to be the last to know a big juicy secret. Especially if you're the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny.

Tooth was on her way to North’s Workshop. Neither she, nor any of her fairies had heard from Jack in several weeks. Not a big deal, as the youngest Guardian was usually busy; either with his duties, or with spreading winter. But there hadn’t been any surprise snow days or late freezes. They had no Guardian tasks, and it was the middle of summer in America where Jack preferred to stay.

Quite frankly, she was worried. She knew Jack had gotten along just fine by himself before they came along, but that didn’t mean that it was right. Nor that he had to think that he was expected to continue to be on his own. Chances are that North had at least heard from the boy. He may even be with him right now, and then would she would really feel silly for worrying. But there was something in the air that felt like _something_ was happening

The workshop came into view, and she darted forward. The cold up here always got to her. She was looking forward to sitting by a nice warm fire. She knocked on the front door, and a yeti answered. It grunted to her in the strange language that she’d never been able to pick up. It led her to to their usual meeting room. She took a moment to warm her hands at the fireplace.

She glanced around the room, smiling as the globe caught her eye. She left the warmth of the fireplace to fly over to the balcony. The steady lights of their believers glowed strong, and though it had been over a year, the feeling of being powerless and weak was still fresh in her mind. The lights reassured her. This was one of the only places where she could see each believer, not just the effects of their belief. 

“Hey, Jolly One. Phil said there’s someone….” Jack burst into the room, and then trailed off when he saw her standing by the balcony. “Oh hey, Tooth.”

Jack backed up slowly, seemingly hiding something behind his back. “I’ll just, go and find North.”

"Jack?" She asked in confusion.

Before he could dart back out of the room, one of the mini-fairies, Baby Tooth, darted forward to flit by Jack. However once she got close, her eyes widened in surprise and she darted behind him before he could shoo her away. Loud chattering erupted.

“Baby Tooth, Stop!” Jack protested as he reached to try and grab her.

“What’s going on?” Tooth demanded as she flew closer.

“Nothing!” the younger Guardian took a step away from her, and winced when a lower pitched cry joined the cacophony of the Mini-Fairies.

“Is that, Is that a child?!” Tooth fluttered, momentarily taken aback, before darting forward to look over Jack’s shoulder.

Jack tried to dodge, but Tooth was quicker.

“Oh my. Jack. Is that Pitch?” A wave of shock rolled through her.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Jack insisted.

The rest of the fairies darted forward and chattered angrily.

“Really?" She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Because it looks to me like you’re giving Pitch Black a piggy back ride in the middle of Santa’s Workshop!”

“Okay, so it’s exactly what it looks like! But it’s not what you think!”

Tooth crossed her arms, her wings beating angrily. “You’d better explain.”

Jack ran his fingers across his face. “Can you call off your fairies? I can’t hear myself think.”

“Girls.” Tooth motioned for her fairies to be quiet.

“Man,” Jack muttered under his breath. “I almost had him to sleep.” He pulled his staff out from behind him, where it had been holding Pitch up, and pulled the boy around till he was resting in Jack’s arms. “Hey, hey, It’s okay.” Jack rubbed soothing circles as he shushed the boy. “Tooth is one of us.”

Tooth quirked an eyebrow and flitted down until her feet touched the floor.

Jack had finally succeeded in getting Pitch to settle down when North burst through the door starting the hysterics all over again. Tooth zipped towards the older Guardian

“Ah, Tooth! How are you? What is happening?”

“Why is Pitch here?!” she demanded to North before turning back to Jack. “Is this why you haven’t been making rounds these last few weeks? Because you’ve been with Pitch?”

“Kind of.” He said with a strained, crooked grin.

“You put those teeth away, Jack Frost. You are not going to distract me!”

Jack shrugged and went back to shushing Pitch. It had been worth a try.

North took over the talking. “I see you have met Pitch.” He stated.

“Yes. Why is he here?” She asked a second time. Her mini fairies chattered angrily between themselves.

“He doesn’t know who we are.” Jack said over the boy’s quieting hiccups. “He’s got no memories at all.”

Tooth’s froze for a second, her face conveying a mixture of emotions all at once, and then she darted forward until she was standing near Jack once more.

“You mean to tell me he has _no_ memory? At all?”

“Yes.” North stated. “From what we can tell.”

Tooth looked between Jack and North. "Do the others know? I mean, am I the only one you've kept out of the loop?"

"Yes and No." Jack said sheepishly. "Sandy knows. Has known for a while. Bunny and you were the only people we hadn't told yet."

"You have to tell him! You've been keeping Pitch here for how long?"

Jack shuffled awkwardly. "Um, like a month."

"A mo" She cut herself off. "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"It never really came up. We were meaning to, honest."

"Jack is right. We were not trying to keep secret." North said in a placating manner.

Jack slumped down on the floor next to the wall and set Pitch down on his lap. He pulled a small stuffed toy out of his hoodie pocket and gave it to the child to keep him occupied while they talked. That done, he slumped back against the wall.

“Really? Because I’m pretty sure when you don’t tell any everyone, it’s a secret!” Tooth yelled as she looked between Jack’s display and North.

"We've just been really busy. Pitch is literally a regular two year old. We've been running around trying to keep up with him, and before we knew it, a month had gone by and we hadn't really talked to anyone."

Tooth narrowed her eyes and bit her lip in thought. Jack looked at North nervously. When she finally spoke, all eyes in the room swiveled to her.

"I'm going to do what you should have done at the start. Guardian Meeting. Now."

North nodded. "You are right. We should have had meeting. Now everyone will be on same page." North walked over to one of the panels below the globe, and messed with the controls. Within seconds he deployed the system that would alert the other Guardians to come to the Pole. Through the room’s many windows Jack saw the magical auras filter across the sky.

"Couldn't this have waited until after naptime?" Jack muttered under his breath.

He'd never actually been here at the start of one of these official meetings. Any meeting they’d had since he’d become a Guardian had been rather informal, taking place wherever they’d happened to all meet. In fact, the last actual meeting they had in this room, he'd entered in a sack. However, he had no doubt that after the events of the attack on Easter, the remaining Guardians would come quickly once summoned.

North turned back to Tooth. "Soon enough they will be here. You want cookie while we wait?"

"Cookies? Are you kidding? Hello, Cavities!" She started in on a familiar argument.

Jack tuned out their conversation and turned his attention to Pitch. The boy had quieted greatly, and was starting to nod off.

"If it's going to take a while for everyone else to show up, I'm going to go put Pitch to bed. Seriously, if he doesn't take his nap now, he won't sleep tonight, and then everyone can have a taste of what North and I have been dealing with these past few weeks."

North waved a hand at him in acknowledgement and went back to trying to get Tooth to eat one of the sugar cookies he had procured from an elf.

"Come on, Peaches. It's naptime for real this time."

“’kay.” He whispered softly.

Pitch held his arms out to Jack indicating that he wanted to be picked up. Jack obliged, and once the boy was cradled in his harms, he laid his head on Jack's shoulder.

'Wow.' Jack thought. 'He must actually be tired for once. It is pretty far past naptime.'

He stood up and caught Tooth staring at him with a strange expression on her face.

His eyebrows quirked in response. "Be right back." He told them as he slid out of the room. Luckily, the bedroom wing was relatively close to the Globe Room. Still, by the time he reached Pitches room, the boy was huffing out steady breaths against his neck.

"You'd better not be drooling on me." He threatened the boy as he turned the room light on with his elbow. He propped his staff against the wall and then gently lowered Pitch into his crib. The toddler rolled over until he was resting on his stomach and planted his face firmly into the mattress. He was asleep again before Jack could even pull the covers up around him.

Jack couldn't hold back a smile at the boys antics, even as he envied him. Pitch would get to sleep through the dreadful meeting. Sure Jack could waste some more time in here. He could tell North that he had been reading Pitch a story, or that it had taken him a while to get ready for his nap. But there was no point in delaying anything.

He wasn't looking forward to the meeting, if Tooth's reaction had been anything to go by, Bunny would probably be just as bad. The Pooka got along better with Jack now, but as far as Pitch was concerned, it was a sore spot. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting. Everything to be rainbows and sunshine? Maybe he'd been hoping for too much.

With a sigh he flipped the light switch. He closed the door gently behind himself so as not to wake up Pitch. He took a moment to steel himself for the arrival of Bunny and Sandy. He would simply explain the situation. Tooth and Bunny would understand then. At least North and Sandy were on his side.

~

The meeting, which ended up being held in the study, got off to a terrible start, with Tooth blurting out that Jack and North had been keeping Pitch at the Pole, and then Jack had to do damage control and explain the whole story to the both of them. By this point it was more of a 'Pitch is a little kid with no memory' than a long drawn out explanation. That hadn't satisfied the pair, so Jack eventually gave them the whole long drawn out spiel of everything that had happened since he found Pitch.

Tooth and Bunny were not as accepting as he had hoped. If anything, the more North and Jack talked, the more upset the Pooka got. While Tooth seemed pretty concerned, Bunny seemed outright angry. North had to physically step in between the two when Bunny had started to mutter under his breath about Stockholm Syndrome, and Jack had launched himself across the coffee table in retaliation.

"Look at you, mate. He's already got you turning against the rest of us."

"'He doesn't even know who you guys are!" Jack yelled in frustration. "Or haven't you been listening?

"Oh, he'd like you to think that. It's the perfect cover."

"Perf - Seriously?"

"Yes." Bunny pulled out one of his boomerangs and began to twirl it between his fingers. "This way, he's got someone keeping him safe from the Nightmares that he can't control anymore until he gets his powers back. And you best beware, when he does get his powers back." Bunny pounded a large fuzzy fist on the table, scaring several elves out from underneath it. "Wham, he stabs you in the back when you're not paying attention." He eyed Jack on the beam that he'd settled onto after North had separated them. "I bet you never even once considered the possibility that this was a trap, did'ya?"

Jack scowled angrily at the insinuation. He was young, not stupid. Besides, if Bunny had been there, he would have realized that Pitch wasn't the same.

"Bunny has a point. If Pitch were trying to trick us, this would be a good way to do it." Tooth interjected.

"How much time have you spent around little kids lately?" Jack waved his staff at Bunny.

"Why?" Bunny asked him through narrowed eyes.

"If I told you right now that you had to pretend to be an average two year old, one that has no memory, could you do it? How long would it be until you slipped up? I have been with Pitch practically this whole time. I'm telling you, this isn't an act. He's not pretending to be a toddler. He is one."

"We have a right to be concerned. We became Guardians to stop Pitch, and then you go and invite him in through our front door!"

Jack threw himself up off the beam and darted downward. He landed lightly on the table in front of Bunny. "Yeah. I did. I took a child out of a bad situation. A child that we are the only ones that can see. Guardians are supposed to take care of kids." He said as he stood over the Pooka.

"Pitch doesn't fall into that category." Bunny replied as he stood up and poked Jack in the chest with one of his fuzzy paws. "You're too close to the situation."

Tooth looked between the pair nervously. Not wanting it to come to violence again between the two, she injected herself into the conversation. "What Bunny is trying to say is that Pitch is a very cunning foe. He's tricked us before, Jack. He shouldn't be underestimated."

"Neither should Jack." North said from where he was speaking quietly with Sandy by the fireplace. Jack felt his chest swell at the praise. "Jack and I know that Pitch is dangerous. However, that boy is not. He is almost normal child."

"Pitch is not Katherine." Bunny said flatly.

Hurt in his eyes, North drew back. Jack looked quizzically around the group.

"Who's Katherine?" He asked.

"She was very special child, long, long time ago." He turned his gaze on Bunny. "That was low blow."

Bunny sat back in his chair, arms crossed. There was a lull after that. Once again, Jack was hit with the realization that the other Guardians had so much history between them that he didn't know about.

Bunny was the one to break the silence. "North, How can you be okay with having him here? You know what he's capable of. Especially you, Sandy. Why are you guys helping him? He deserved everything he got."

Sandy pursed his lips in thought, and then turned to Bunny with a shrug and a shake of his head.

"Sandy's just doing his job, spreading good dreams to kids. One of which just so happens to be Pitch."

"Oh?" Bunny raised an eyebrow. "so you're saying that you have been doing your job as well. This thing with Pitch isn't affecting you doing your duties?"

"This isn't affecting my duties!" Jack huffed as he fluttered back to his roost and settled on his stomach so that he could still see the room.

"Oh yeah? When's the last time you went out and spent any amount of time with your believers? Where's the last place you spread a snow day, When's the last time you even made it snow? You think kids will be lining up when they hear you're off gallivanting with the boogeyman?"

"Gallivanting? Oh that's rich."

"So I'm wrong? You have been out spreading snow days?"

Jack rolled onto his back. "Well, no, not exactly. But it's summer here."

"So you're okay with forgetting about the rest of the globe because it's not winter on the home front?" Bunny turned back to North and Sandy with a huff of exasperation. "How are you all so nonchalant about this whole situation? The guy practically killed Sandy."

"He tried to destroy all of us." Tooth piped up from the other armchair.

"Oh for crying out loud." Jack muttered to himself. "Pitch broke my staff and left me unconscious in Antarctica." He threw himself up so that he was kneeling on the beam and looking down at Bunny. "But, hey, Wow. I'm able to differentiate between the Boogeyman and a two year old who happens to be Pitch Back."

The group stared up at him with varying shades of confusion and horror.

"What?" He asked upon seeing their faces. "Didn't I tell you guys about this?"

Sandy shook his head and quirked his eyebrows in concern.

"Oh. Well Pitch had Baby Tooth." Jack said as he indicated one of the fairies. She perked up when she heard her name, and darted upwards until she was hovering near Jack. "He wanted the staff in exchange for letting her go."

"Did you give it to him?" North asked.

"Of course!"

"But Jack, your powers come from staff!"  He squinted up at Jack with distress.

"Not all of them. I mean, they're connected, yes." He downplayed.

"So you traded your powers away for one of my fairies?"

"Well, yeah. You guys were all mad at me, but I wasn't going to let him hurt her."

Tooth looked like she was about to cry, and Jack stumbled onwards. "Um. Making a long story short, Pitch broke my staff, but he left it down there with me. So when Baby Tooth helped me get my memories I was able to put it back together.

"There must have been a lot of power in that memory, to mend your staff that well. None of us even noticed it was broken."

"Oh yeah. I remembered saving my little sister before I died. I finally figured out why Manny picked me."

Tooth jerked back in her chair, and placed her hand over her chest. "Jack, sweetie, I'm going to need you to stop with the bombshells. I don't think my heart can take any more surprises today."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "But I already told you that Manny chose me because I saved my sister."

"Not that, ya nitwit. She was talking about the other bit." Bunny said as he craned his neck back to get a better view of Jack. "Did you say you died?"

"Yes? I drowned. Or froze to death. Maybe I froze to death while drowning. It's kind of blurry. But I definitely remember dying."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I was dead for a while. I fell through thin ice during the daytime. Manny pulled me out of the lake pretty late at night." He quirked his head. "Why is this so interesting? Aren't we all dead? I thought we were all ghosts."

"No, Jack."

"Oh." he said meekly as he abandoned his beam and sunk down to the floor in between the chairs and the fireplace. The rug felt like stone under his feet. "Are any of you dead," he asked numbly "or is it just me?"

Jack caught the look that the Guardians traded over his head. _'Oh my God. I'm not just a “spirit”._ He thought hysterically. “ _I'm literally a spirit'_

"You do look a bit like a dead person." Bunny said "We all figured it was something to do with your powers."

Jack stared wildly at him. "You guys talked about the fact that I look like a corpse and no one thought to mention it to me?!"

"Not helping, Bunny." Tooth admonished as she pushed out of her chair and sat down on the floor next to Jack. "This actually explains quite a bit. For one, we know why you had all your powers when you didn't have any believers, or why having believers hasn't affected your powers at all. You're made different than the rest of us."

Jack stood up and spun around the room, looking at the other Guardians. "Why aren't any of you freaking out as much as I am? I am literally some kind of a frost zombie."

"Oh sweetie." Tooth placed a hand on Jack's arm. "We are really, really old. Magic can do all sorts of things. Theoretically it could bring someone back from the dead.

"Mm." he muttered and opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a buzzing in his pocket. He absentmindedly dug into his pocket and switched the timer off with one hand and brushed Tooth off with the other. He was walking towards the door when Bunny's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Oy, Frost. Where do you think you're going? We're not finished here."

"I... Naptime's over." Jack said by way of explanation.

"Naptime?" Bunny snorted. "How long are you going to continue to play house with the Boogeyman?"

He inhaled deeply and counted to ten. It was a trick he used anytime Pitch was being particularly bratty. Maybe it would work on Pookas too.

"I am going to go wake Pitch up. And then I will bring him here and you can judge for yourself what's a trick, and what's not." With that, Jack turned and flew out of the room. The Wind slammed the doors behind him, and he felt a small smile twinge at his face. At least the Wind still had his back.

Jack used the time it took to get to Pitch’s room to calm down, both from Bunny’s jab, and from the jolt he’d received earlier. He really did have a lot to learn. There should be a manual he could read so that he’d stop looking like an idiot in front of everyone else.

Pitch was awake when Jack entered his room. He was staring out sadly at his toys through the bars. He had yet to start trying to climb out of the crib, but Jack knew the day was coming soon enough. When he saw Jack, his expression did a 180, and he greeted Jack with a happy noise.

"There's my Peach Pie. Did you think I forgot all about you?" He asked as he hefted Pitch out of the crib and set him on the ground. Ironically, if it wasn't for his ability to fly, he would be too short to pick Pitch up. Flying was a great power to have when you were short.

"Now listen bub. The Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are out there, and we're going to go see them. Sandy and North are out there too. We're having a grown-up talk, but they want to meet you. If you behave good, I bet Santa will give you a cookie."

"Cookie." Pitch clapped his hands.

"How come any time I talk to you, the only word you hear is cookie?" Jack rubbed his knuckles on Pitch's head.

"Cookie." Pitch repeated in a solemn voice.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have to behave first. And you only get one or else you'll spoil your dinner." He walked out of Pitch's room. “Now, let's go meet the Guardians. And remember to be good." He stressed that final word.

Jack walked back to the study, admittedly much slower than he left it. He felt kind of silly for storming out the way he did, but hey, a guy can only take so much before he loses his cool. Finding out that you're the only undead guy in the room will do that to a person. He had been a Guardian for a while now, but there were still things that he didn't know about. Things like this Katherine person. Who was she? He made a mental note to ask North about that when they were alone, as it seemed to distress the older man when she was brought up.

Pitch tugged on his hand after a few seconds.

"Hm?" Jack questioned, and then realized that he'd been standing before the door to the study with his hand on the knob. Oh. "Here goes nothing." he uttered as he pulled the door open.

When they entered the room, all eyes turned in their direction. Jack tried not to feel self-conscious at the attention. He hadn't been gone for very long, but the Guardians had obviously continued talking. Tooth was hovering near the window talking to Bunny with a hand on her hip. North had taken her armchair. Sandy was still near the fireplace. They had acquired refreshments at some point in time, and were all drinking from glasses of what he presumed was eggnog. 

He lowered down until he was balancing on the balls of his feet and placed a hand on Pitch's back. Now that he was at the boy's level, he began to speak "These are my friends. They wanted to meet you. You remember Sandy right?" he pointed him out. Sandy waved at them. "And that's Tooth, and the grumpy grey one is Bunny." He indicated each of them as he spoke his name.

Pitch gazed at them with piercing gold-gray eyes. "Norf." he piped up, pointing to the last Guardian. Completely ignoring everyone else, Pitch crossed the room until he was standing in front of the gift-giver. The chairs usually swallowed anyone who sat in them, However North managed to dwarf the chair. Pitch dug his hands into the material of North's pants and attempted to lever himself up. He mostly succeeded, though a laughing North helped him with the last bit when he started to slide back down to the ground. Once Pitch was sitting on his lap, hooked his hands into North's beard and tugged at it.

"Always with the beard." North said in a weary voice as he attempted to pry his beard out of gray fingers. When that failed, he grabbed a cookie off of the coffee table and waved it in Pitch's line of sight. Pitch instantly released him to take the cookie in his usual manner. Jack had once commented that he looked like a chipmunk when he ate cookies because he always ate them with two hands. To be fair, the cookies that the elves made were quite large. They seemed to be made for North sized hands, not regular or kid sized hands.

North was straightening his beard when he saw Bunny looking at him strangely. "What?"

"That's really creepy." he bit out. Jack darted forward until he was directly behind the Pooka and flicked one of his ears.

"Ow!" Bunny said as he rounded on him.

"Be nice." Jack admonished.

"I am nice, ya gumby. But seeing North feed cookies to the Boogieman is creepy. And weird." He tacked on.

"Do you do that often?" Tooth questioned. "With those dinner plate cookies?"

Jack shrugged. "Not really? Only a couple a day."

Exasperated, Tooth touched her forehead. "Tell me you at least brush his teeth."

Bunny raised his arms up in disgust. "How can you be worried about cavities at a time like this? He's our enemy!"

"So you keep saying." Jack said as he took to the air. "But that doesn't make it true." He did twisting flip and landed gently on the coffee table. Pitch exclaimed happily and offered his cookie to Jack.

"No thanks, Peaches. As a rule of thumb, I don't eat food that other people have already put in their mouths."

From across the room he saw Bunny twitching angrily. "You okay over there kangaroo? Not having a seizure or anything, are you?"

Bunny hopped over to him and grabbed Jack off of the coffee table. Tooth and North both surged forwards, but Jack and Bunny ignored them. "Pitch is our enemy. How can you say that it's not true."

Jack replied with a shrug. "I'm not saying that Pitch isn't our enemy, I'm just saying that he," he waved a hand in Pitch's direction "isn't."

"They are the same person!" Bunny threw one of his paws up in frustration.

"No they're not!" Jack growled as he yanked his arm away.

"Boys!" Tooth yelled as she pushed them apart. "I swear, can we get through one conversation without you two resorting to violence."

Jack straightened his hoodie. "We're not being violent. I'm just speaking to him in a language that he understands."

Bunny rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'll show you violence, Frost."

"Oooh, I'm quaking in my boots, Oh wait, I don't wear boots."

Tooth smacked both of them on the backs of their heads. "What did I just say?"

They murmured apologies to her.

"Now, can we have a calm conversation? Going at each other's throats is getting us nowhere."

"We could be having a calm conversation right now if he," Bunny flicked a paw out, "had left Pitch down in that hole where he belongs."

"What are you suggesting that we throw him back down there?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"Yes." Bunny answered shortly. "It would save me a lot of headaches."

"Well too bad. That's not happening."

Sandy floated around trying to catch the attention of anyone who would listen. Some days he wished that he had an air horn that he could blow to make people listen to him.

"Oh yeah, what a great idea. Let's keep the Boogieman here at the pole with not one but two Guardians that he can emotionally compromise."

"Will you stop it? It's not a trick. We're in no danger from him. Or are you scared of a two year old?" Jack raised one of his eyebrows.

"No." Bunny spat. "But I'm smart enough to know that this is a bad idea.

"You calling me stupid?" Jack bit out.

"If the shoe fits." The other replied.

Sandy shook his head. This was going nowhere fast. Something would have to be done. He moved forward, conjuring dream sand as he went.

"What are you doing, Sandy?" Tooth asked when she noticed him.

He formed the sand into a small horse. He held the horse out to Pitch, and suddenly Jack understood what he was doing. When Pitch touched the dream sand, he turned it into nightmare sand. It was ingrained in his powers. Sandy was testing him.

Dropping his cookie, Pitch drew back with a cry when the miniature pony flickered it's head.

"Uh, Sandy, maybe we should stay away from the horses for now." Jack spoke up.

The dream-bringer nodded his head. The sand swirled around in his hands before taking on another form, a large golden moth. At North's prompting, Pitch drew his face out from where he'd buried it in the older Guardian's shirt.

The moth fluttered it's wings several times before it flew up out of Sandy's hands towards the pair. Sandy mocked cupping his hands, and North got the point. He reached forward and brought Pitch's hands together. The boy exclaimed delightedly when it fluttered around his face for a moment before settling down in his hands.

Jack waited with baited breath for several seconds, but when nothing happened, he relaxed. The moth melted away and sand ran between their fingers as Sandy called it back. He gave a pointed look to Bunny, as if to say _see._

"That doesn't prove anything. All you did was confirm what we already knew, that he doesn't have his powers."

"So he's not dangerous." Jack drawled.

Bunny's ears twitched. "Yet."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why are you being so blind?" He retorted. "You won't even acknowledge that there's the possibility that this isn't as black and white as you think it is? "

"Because you won't acknowledge that everything isn't all black!"

North interrupted them. "This is best place for him."

"How so?" Tooth asked.

"If he is wanting safe place, this is good one. We can keep eyes on him, and there are no children near."

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?" She asked.

He nodded at her. "And if there are no memories in here," he tapped a finger to Pitch's head, "then Santa's Workshop is good place for child."

"I don't like it." Bunny said with crossed arms.

Jack huffed. "Of course you don't. You're never happy with anything."

Tooth fluttered between them, ready to break up another fight if it became physical. "While I'm not entirely fond of the idea, Sandy and North bring up good points."

"The whole lotta ya have lost your minds." Bunny twitched. "Are you seriously thinking that this is a good idea?"

"I'm not entirely comfortable with it, but it's not a bad idea." She said with a shrug.

North smiled at her.

"With conditions that is."

Bunny continued to utter his disbelief, but Sandy motioned for Tooth to continue.

"Well, we should all be kept in the loop from now on. If anything bad were to have happen at the Pole, none of us would have known. We should all keep in contact and give each other regular updates. And of course, he should never be left alone."

"Of course not. Do you think we're dumb?"

Sandy looked at Jack with a sharp rebuke in his eyes.

"Any others?" North asked.

"Yeah, we put that freak back where Jack found him and pretend that this entire fiasco was all a sugar induced bad dream."

"Bunnymund." North said harshly as he stood up set Pitch down on the floor. "We will do no such thing. I think it is time to break. We are too close for too long. Is big idea to get used to, and some air might help. Guardians should not fight amongst ourselves like this."

Sandy flashed a picture of the sun setting and the moon rising, then the sun rose again.

"That is true. Sandy must go to work soon. We will meet tomorrow like he suggests." He looked around. "If that is okay with everyone."

They all nodded their assent.

"It might give everyone time to clear their heads and realize what a bad idea this is." Bunny grumbled. Sandy shook his head and grabbed onto one of Bunny's hand. He waved at the group as he dragged Bunny with him.

Tooth made her way to the rooms remaining occupants.

"You are the Guardian of memories, right?" Jack asked her. "Couldn't you," he waved one hand around, "I don't know, check and see what's in his head.

"It doesn't work like that, Jack. I have to have the tooth in my hands." She cocked her head to the side. "Unless you want to yank out one of his baby teeth, there's not much that I can do."

"Oh." He frowned. "No, I don't think we'll go that far. I'm glad you waited to suggest that until after Bunny left. He may have yanked one out himself."

Tooth knelt so that she was on the floor and reached towards Pitch. She pulled his jaw open and made an interested noise as she examined his teeth. She pulled back quickly when his teeth chomped closed with a click.

"Bad Pitch!" Jack admonished. "No biting!" He shot Tooth an apologetic look. "Sorry! I'm working on it, but he keeps biting people."

Tooth held back a laugh. "Sweetie, I'm the Tooth Fairy. That was not the first time I've been bitten, and it certainly won't be the last. Though most children don't have teeth that sharp." She stood up and wiped her hands on her feathers. "So I noticed that you didn't answer my earlier question."

"What question?"

She sighed. "I'll bring you a toothbrush tomorrow." She looked to North. "What time is best?"

"Sandy will probably come here when he finishes. We have breakfast at eight if you want to join us. We will have meeting once everyone gets here."

"Alright." She flew to the door, her mini-fairies fluttering after her. She cast one last glance over her shoulder before she left the room.

"That was fun. Let's do it again never." He said as he sank to the floor next to Pitch.

North towered over him. "I thought it went alright."

"Were we at the same meeting? Tooth, we can work with. Bunny's just being a jerk."

North raised an eyebrow. "He is having hard time adjusting to differences. Don't let it get to you. He will come around in time."

A grey head blocked his line of site.

"Dack." He said as he tugged on a fistful of silver hair.

"What?" Jack asked as he reached behind himself and planted his hands around Pitch's waist. He flipped the boy over his head. Pitch squealed in delight.

"Oof." Jack exclaimed when Pitch dropped down to land on his chest. "You're getting heavy, Kiddo."

"Dak-Dack." he said as he stuck one of Jack's hoodie strings in his mouth and began to chew on it.

He looked at Pitch in exasperation before turning to North. "I'm looking forward to the day when I'm don't have to worry about my clothes being covered in drool and snot anymore.

North gave him a full bellied laugh. "That day is long time away. Come, it is little early, but we can start dinner. That will give him something to do with his mouth that is not chewing on people or their things."

"Alright. That sounds like a plan.”

The rest of the day went by much smoother than the last few hours had.

Dinner went as over as well as any other day, which meant that about half of Pitch's food was eaten, and the other half ended up everywhere else. North took care of Pitch's bath while Jack spent some time outside kicking up some snow. Bunny's comment had really gotten to him. He hadn't been meaning to ignore his believers, it had simply happened. He made a note to himself that he would get out soon and spend a day just playing in the snow with the kids.

He came back inside when North hollered to him that it was bed time. Bedtime was his new specialty.

Pitch was already in his pajamas when he got upstairs. The toddler yawned sleepily. It really had been a long day. Between Tooth and Bunny, he felt like he was getting pulled in half. At least North was on his side.

"Alright, kiddo, pick out a story." Pitch pulled out one of the hardcover books and made his way back to Jack. The two settled into the rocking chair, and Jack held the book out in front of them.

"No More Yawning" Jack said in an exaggerated voice as he flipped the cover open. The ritual was soothing. It was probably the most normal thing that had happened since the Tooth Fairy had shown up at naptime. Had that really only been six hours ago? It felt like they'd been arguing all day.

Once they'd finished the story and he'd put Pitch to bed, Jack turned out the lights with a sigh and went to his own room. He flopped bonelessly into his own bed. Today had sucked. And he'd get to do it all over again tomorrow.

"Great." He sighed.

North had been amazing to them ever since he'd shown up with Pitch. Sandy had been giving Pitch good dreams. He'd been hoping that the rest of the Guardians would be as accepting. Of course not. Not that he blamed them. Tooth and Bunny had good points, but they were talking about Pitch Black, Nightmare King, not Pitch Black, toddler.

Jack flopped out on his mattress and pulled his staff close. Today had been entirely too long. His center was fun- fighting was anything but fun. He turned to look out the window. The moon was a large crescent in the sky.

"Am I doing the right thing?" He asked it. Per usual, Manny didn't reply. He tossed back over with a huff. Of course he was doing the right thing. Tooth and Bunny were just going to have to deal with the fact that he was going to keep looking over Pitch, regardless of what they said. They would come around eventually. He hoped.

Morning was slow to come. Any sleep he managed to get was in small increments. Most of the night he tossed and turned, tired, but not tired enough to actually sleep. As a result, he was justifiably grumpy when the sun finally rose.

He got set about dressing Pitch in a pair of black shorts, and a white tee-shirt. Once he’d tied the cape around Pitch, the boy started playing with his toys. The boy had obviously slept better than him, if his happy babbling was anything to go by.

Jack raised an eyebrow at Pitch when he offered they toy he'd been playing with to him. "I really wish I knew what was going on in your head sometimes." He laughed as he accepted the plastic dinosaur and turned it on Pitch pretending to bite him with it. "Oh no! Dino's hungry!" Pitch squealed and ran away from him. "If Dino's hungry, I bet you are too. You want to go eat breakfast Peach?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, come on." He grabbed one of Pitch's hand and they headed towards the kitchen.

Of course, they ran into Bunny first. The Pooka narrowed his eyes when he saw Jack and Pitch holding hands. Jack quirked his head and held up his index finger. Jack probably looked really threatening holding onto a plastic dinosaur.

"Anything you have to say can wait until after breakfast. We have a schedule. Now if you can be polite, you are welcome to join us. If you cannot, then you can wait until breakfast is finished." His piece said, he pushed his way past Bunny and into the kitchen. He could hear North talking to someone in the dining room, and since it sounded like a once sided conversation, it was safe to assume he was in there with Sandy. Tooth was probably somewhere around here too. First things first, he went to the dining room to see if the others wanted breakfast.

"Good morning Jack!" North called cheerfully.

Jack groaned out a reply. "It's morning. It remains to be seen whether it will be a good one." He picked up Pitch and swung him into his chair.

North laughed in reply. "You are usually morning person, Jack."

He pushed Pitch's chair up to the table and handed him the dinosaur he'd been holding. "Yeah, well, it's going to be one of those days, I can just feel it. You guys eaten yet?"

Sandy shook his head. "Can I interest you in breakfast?" The two did indeed want breakfast, so Jack headed back into the kitchen and set to work.

North and Sandy watched Jack go into the kitchen before turning their attention back to each other. They'd been in the middle of a conversation when the younger Guardian had come in.

"So, where were we?" Sandy flashed up a sign, and the two were instantly drawn back to their earlier topic. They continued talking until Jack came back.

Jack made several trips between the connected rooms, placing food and drinks on the table.

“Alright guys, breakfast is served.”

He cleared the space around Pitch and deftly plucked the dinosaur out of his hands.

“You can have it back after breakfast.” He told Pitch when he started to get mad. “Here, have a waffle.” He shoved a plate that had several torn waffles on it towards Pitch. In an abrupt 180, he smiled delightedly and picked up a waffle piece in each hand.

"Affle!" Pitch squealed, immediately overturning his plate.

Jack resisted the urge to sigh. At least he hadn't put any syrup on the plate.

They ate in breakfast in relative peace, and when they were finished, North offered to clean Pitch up so that Jack could see if the other Guardians were there yet. He agreed, feeling much better now that he had some food in him.

Jack wondered where the Pooka had gotten off to. He found him talking to Tooth in the Globe Room. They paused their conversation when he came in.

“Oh good, everyone’s here. Sandy and North are with Pitch. I’ll go tell them that we’re ready.” He started to leave the room, but stopped when Tooth called to him.

“Wait, Jack.”

“Yes?” He asked as she approached him. She had a small cluster of mini fairies following closely behind her.

“I wanted to ask you some questions.”

“Okay.” He slid the door closed behind him, and indicated that she should go on.

“You keep saying Pitch is a two-year old.”

“Yeah, mentally, that’s about where he is. He’s speaking a lot more words now though compared to when I found him, but most conversations I’m half guessing what he’s trying to say. Sometimes he just refuses to talk." Jack shrugged. "Don’t even get me started on his terrible hand-eye coordination.” He jumped up and landed on one of the exposed beams. “He’s kinda small too, and has the worst temper tantrums. He’s way younger than the kids that I usually play with. More like their younger siblings. Two seemed right.”

She raised a hand to her chin in thought.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense, things happening like this.”

“Yeah, we’ll there’s this whole year long period that I can’t tell you anything about.”

She hummed. “That’s true. I’d be a lot easier to figure out what to do if he could talk.”

"Is it fixable?” He asked “Or will he be like this forever?"

“I don’t know, Jack.” Tooth said as she flitted nervously about. “When it happened to Bunny, only his body changed. He still remembered who he was.”

“What are you saying?” Jack asked. Tooth fluttered up to his level and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Pitch is physically a child. He shouldn’t be one mentally.”

Jack cocked his head and pushed off of the beam so that he was standing on it. “I don’t understand. He clearly is a child though."

"A couple of different things could be causing this...” Tooth said as she dived back down to the ground

“Or it could be a trick." Bunny threw in.

"Not this again!" Jack interjected with a groan.

Tooth raised her hands in a placating manner. "It could be true that he may not be able to remember, or that he doesn't want to remember."

"What?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Humans sometimes block out traumatic accidents or events. We're not that different from them, Jack. Remember what I told you before?"

Jack nodded. "So chances are, something bad may have happened, he may have gotten hit on the head, or he's tricking us." He chewed on his bottom lip and unconsciously started frosting the beam below him with his staff.

"It would be quite the scheme if he could pull it off. Infiltrate us, and then take us out while our guards are down." Bunny crossed his arms. "I don't trust him. This is Pitch we're talking about."

Jack watched Bunny pace under the beam he was walking on.

"I'm wary too, Jack." Tooth said. "It just seems too convenient."

The youngest Guardian huffed. "Convenient? You guys didn't see him when I found him. It's taken me weeks to get him to this point. That boy is not the same Pitch that we fought last year."

"Don't you think you're a little too close to the situation, mate? Kinda hard to see the forest for the trees."

Jack paused, and turned his full attention to Bunny.

"Okay, I don't even know how to respond to that. Is it even possible for you to talk like a normal person?

Tooth laid a hand on Jack's shoulder. "We're not saying that you're wrong. We're just saying that Pitch is dangerous. You know that. He is also very patient. This kind of thing just smells like trap."

"You don't think I know that?" Jack jumped up to the next beam over, and walked several steps while, twirling his staff in his hands. "But we are being very careful. If I'm not with him, then North is. We're out in the middle of nowhere. No kids for miles and miles. There's not a whole lot of trouble he can get into up here.”

"I'm just saying, don't get too comfortable, mate. It doesn't matter how little he is, you're fooling yourself if you think he's not dangerous."

Bunny stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind him. Jack winced and floated down to the ground.

"Look, Tooth. If you guys spent some time with him, you'd see what I've been trying to tell you all the whole time."

The Tooth Fairy darted forward until she was in front of Jack. "Sweetie, I know you want to believe the best, but you have to prepare yourself for the possibility of the worst."

"Bunny is all for us throwing Pitch back into his lair and leaving him there for all eternity." Jack said quietly as he jammed the hand not holding his staff into his pocket. "Is that the way that you feel?"

Tooth drew back. "You don't understand, Jack. Pitch is capable of terrible things. He was almost powerless the last time we fought, and he still almost managed to beat us. Bunny took it really hard. Easter’s a big deal to him."

"No!" Jack yelled, causing Tooth to flinch. "You're the one who doesn't understand. I know what Pitch is capable, was capable of doing. I lived through it, okay. If I thought for one second that Pitch was able to hurt anyone else, I would stop him myself."

Jack felt a hand on his cheek. 

"Oh sweetie." Tooth pulled away. "I know you would. It’s just that we've been dealing with Pitch a long longer than you have. I do believe what you're saying. We will stop Pitch the next time he tries to pull something. I just don't want you to get hurt if this doesn't go the way you're planning."

Jack took a deep breath and relaxed his grip on his staff. He'd been holding onto it so tight that his knuckles were white.

“You guys have been keeping an eye on Pitch so far, but now that Bunny and I know, we're all going to have to be involved. No more secrets, okay Jack?" She gave him a pointed look.

He nodded.

"Good. I don't think that it's fair to lock Pitch back up until we determine what's happened to him. If he really was a little kid stuck in his lair all this time… She trailed off. “It’d be cruel to put him back down there.” She said after a moment. “And I want to leave one of my fairies here. She can help keep an eye on things. Those are my terms.”

“Okay. Sure thing.” He leaned on his staff. “Baby Tooth?”

She smiled. “I had a feeling you’d ask for her. Yes, I can leave her here.” Baby Tooth broke away from the other fairies and came to rest on Jack’s shoulder.

“I’ll talk to North and see how often he wants to meet." She hugged Jack. “Keep an eye on my girl, okay?”

“Of course!”

“Good.”

Tooth pulled back and fluttered to the door. She turned back at the last moment. "You asked if this was permanent? Experience tells me that Pitch isn't growing up until people start believing in him again." With that last tidbit, she left the room.

North appeared sometime later. He looked around the room. “Where is everyone?”

Jack shrugged. “I dunno. They decided that they wanted to talk to me alone. So they did, and then everyone left. Also Baby Tooth is staying with us now.”

North cocked head at Jack, wondering what he was leaving out.

“Why did you take in Pitch? I mean, why did you let me take him in? Why are you being so nice and helping us out?”

“I’m not humoring you, if that’s what you think. I could tell from first time I saw you holding him. Pitch Black had old, angry eyes. Those are now eyes of child. Children have an innocence around them, a wonder for everything new. You cannot fake that. And more importantly, I trust your judgment. You asked for help, so I am helping.”

Jack let that thought roll around in his head. “Tooth doesn’t think he’ll get bigger unless people start believing in him again.”

North nodded. “That is a very real possibility.”

“What happens then? I mean, if Pitch is still like this in 15 years?”

“Then Bunny will have very long time to get used to the idea.” North said with a laugh. “We are in this together, for as long as it takes.” He clasped Jack’s shoulder. “Now, I left Pitch with Sandy, and I don’t think he realizes how hyper children can be after eating all that sugar. What you say we go rescue him?”

“Yeah, okay.” He said with a smile. And let North lead him from the room. Life was going to be different now that all the Guardians knew about Pitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a shiny new tumblr dedicated just to my A03 account, so if you're looking for updates or want to ask me anything about anything I'm working on, you can hit me up at [my tumblr](http://lyllytas.tumblr.com)


	8. Vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like a nice relaxing vacation on the beach... Yeah right, since when are vacations ever relaxing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know it's been a while. For those of you who follow me on Tumblr, you know why. But for those of you who don't, to make a long story short, my mom was in the hospital the last few weeks because she was having surgery to remove a brain tumor, and I went up there to help her out while she was in the hospital. Sorry for the wait, and thanks to everyone who sent my mom <3 and good thoughts! You guys rock!

Jack wasn’t pouting, per say. He was annoyed, yes, kind of unhappy that things hadn’t gone the way that he planned, and okay, when you put it that way, he was pouting. It’s just, he had been thinking for days and days on ideas for making Bunny and Tooth get to know Pitch better, but he was drawing a blank. He crossed his arms and laid his head on them with a groan.

“What is problem?” North asked as he placed one of his small chisels down and turned his attention on the boy.

Jack took a moment to inspect North’s latest sculpture before responding. It was a miniature carousel that he had no doubt would actually work once the man was finished.

“Well, I keep trying to come up with ways to get the other Guardians to spend more time with Pitch, but every idea I have is terrible.” He threw his hands up in frustration.

North hummed sympathetically in response.

“I can’t figure out a way to get Bunny and Tooth to come up here and spend more time. The Tooth Palace is a really bad place for a little kid and Bunny would have a fit if I showed up with Pitch at the Warren.”

“So find a neutral ground.” North said as he tinked away with his ice pick.

“Neutral ground? Like what?”

“Any place that is not one of our homes. Those two would probably want it away from children…”

Jack processed the thought and turned it over in his head until an idea started to form.

“Do you think they would actually come?”

North placed his chisel down and turned to Jack.

“If you do not try, you cannot fail. However, you cannot succeed either. If they say no, then you keep trying.”

“Thanks, North!” Jack said as he shot up. Baby Tooth, who had been resting in Jack's hood, started as Jack woke her from her slumber.

Jack picked up one of the snow globes that North kept in the office. “Do you mind if I borrow some of these guys? I’ll be back before naptime is over!”

“Sure sure.” North motioned him with his hands. “Go and make peace.”

Jack shot him a blinding grin. “Thanks again. Tooth Palace” He spoke into the globe, and then tossed it before he quickly darted into the portal. Baby Tooth looked torn between staying where she had been assigned and going home.

“Go on.” North beckoned to her. “Nothing will happen while I am here.”

With his reassurance, she zipped after Jack and the portal closed behind her.

-

Jack smiled as he weaved between the walls of the Tooth Palace. It had been a long time since he had been to Tooth’s home. He felt a momentary stab of guilt for not bringing Pitch, but he let it fade away. If he had woken Pitch, the boy would be extra grumpy. Not exactly the best material for convincing someone to spend more time with him.

He came upon Tooth in an unused portion of the palace, where teeth that were seldom ever touched were stored. These were the teeth of children who were no more, ones who even time had forgotten about. She was staring intently at something in her hand, but he couldn’t see what it was.

Baby Tooth chirped happily when she saw her, and Toothiana jumped and slammed the object back into a case.

“Jack! You startled me!” She exclaimed, grabbing his chest.

“Sorry!” He apologized sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to disturb your…” he gestured with his staff, “whatever you were doing.”

She set the case back into it’s slot in the wall before turning back to face him. “I was just doing a bit of organizing.”

“Organizing?” He asked skeptically.

“Yes.” She paused. “Sometimes, when I’m bored, I like to reorganize the teeth.”

He landed lightly beside her. “But then how do you find them again?”

“I keep them organized by year, continent, and country, but I mix the children around.”

He was intrigued. “How do you sort them?”

“You see,” she preened, happy someone was interested in her work. “Sometimes I organize them by how many teeth they have left to loose, other times I organize them by which kid is more likely to need our attention.”

Jack quirked his brow. “How do you figure that?”

She frowned slightly. “Their happy moments make me sad.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “Anyways, you obviously came here for a reason, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t to listen to me blather about spring cleaning.”

“I don’t mind. It’s interesting to learn about everyone’s jobs. You guys all seem to know everything about each other. I feel like I’m always playing catch-up.” He flashed her a self-depreciating grin.

“It wasn’t always that way.” She smiled. “You should have seen us when we were first starting out. Bunny and North knocked heads all the time.”

“No?” Jack gasped. “Bunny, not get along with someone?”

“Hey, I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with either. We really have come a long way.”

Intrigued, Jack leaned on his staff. “What happened? How did you go from fighting, to this?”

She quirked her nose. “Pitch. We all united against him, It took a while to work out all of our differences, and it cost us a lot, but in the end, we came out victorious. Things were peaceful. We focused on the children and put away our weapons. Well,“ she amended. ”Most of us did.”  She clapped her hands together. “And that concludes story time. Now, what did you need?”

Jack groaned internally. He wanted details, darn it. However, he forced himself to move on. Clearly she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“North and I were thinking that after that dreadful meeting with all the dreadful arguing, we should do something a little less…Boring.”

She quirked a feathered eyebrow. “I’m sure he used that exact phrasing.”

Jack smiled. “It was more of ‘Have get together on Neutral Ground.” He said with an exaggerated accent.

Tooth laughed. “And what sort of get together are we planning?”

“We’re going to the beach!” Jack beamed.

Tooth flashed him a critical look. “Is Pitch coming?”

“Yep!” He flew backwards and landed on the top of his staff.

“Are you sure that’s such a great idea, Jack? In the middle of the day with all of those kids?”

“Oh ye of little faith. I used to have a _lot_ of time of my hands. I know a place or two where people don’t go. Places that are,” he paused, “remote and hard to get to, so people don’t really go there. It’ll be like a vacation. When’s the last time you took a few hours to yourself and enjoyed the sand between your toes?”

“Well, Never really.”

“Then why not come?” He waved his hands around like it was obvious

She hesitated. “Why are you pushing this so hard?”

Jack hopped off of his staff and shot her a level look. “If you don’t think I need a vacation after dealing with Pitch all this time, you sooooo are wrong.” He darted forward so that he was standing next to her. “It’ll be fuuuun.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. “Okay. Fine, I’ll go. The girls can handle things for a couple of hours. When exactly are we doing this?”

“Tomorrow!” He exclaimed.

“Alright, come get me when it’s time to go.”

“Okay.” He smiled at her and pulled out another globe. He waved at her as he departed and then he emerged onto an island made of golden sand and saw the Sandman looking straight at him.

“Hey Sandy!”

Sandy waved at him in greeting.

“So listen,” he said as Sandy cocked his head. “I know that nights are when you usually work and all but we – the rest of the Guardians – are going to be at the beach all day tomorrow, and if you wanted to drop by for a while, you’re welcome to.”

Sandy waved his hand to indicate that Jack should go on.

“We’re all meeting at North’s, but since you’ll be out spreading Dream Sand, I figured you’d need to know how to find us.”

Sandy gave him a playful look as he reached into the sand where pockets would have been on normal pants. The grains parted under his fingers and he emerged with what looked like a golden pocket watch. He flicked the top open and motioned so that Jack could see it’s face. Among the edges there were several symbols that Jack recognized as belonging to the Guardians, along with a few others that must have belong to other spirits. The cardinal directions were inscribed on the inside. Sandy scrunched up his face in concentration, and to Jacks amazement, the snowflake symbol lit up, and the compass needle spun around several times before coming to a stop pointing at him.

“That is so cool!” He couldn’t help but exclaim. “That’s a lot easier than showing you where the island is!” Jack looked away from the compass. “Man, you guys have all the fun toys.”

Sandy smiled at Jack as he slid the compass back into his pockets.

“So, does this mean you’ll come if you get the chance?”

Sandy nodded.

“Great!” _Two down, one to go._ He thought to himself. “I’ve got to go, but hopefully we’ll see you tomorrow!”

Sandy waved at Jack as the boy pulled out another snow globe.

“Bye, Sandy!” Jack called as he stepped into the portal and found himself in the colorful world of the warren.

“Hey Kangaroo, you in here?” Jack edged forward, wary of the Warrior Eggs that turned to follow his every movement.

“Bunny!” He called, his voice echoing across the vast planes of the warren. “I know you’re here!”

A shift in the air behind him alerted him to the fact that he was no longer alone.

“Oh hey, buddy.” Jack said as the wind turned him around.

“Whaddya want?” The Easter Bunny said from behind crossed arms.

“Don’t be like that, Grumpy. We’re all going out  to the beach tomorrow, and wanted to extend the invitation to you as well.”

Bunny’s nose twitched. “Who’s we.”

Jack leaned on his staff. “Oh you know, us Guardians." He paused before tacking on,  "and Pitch.”

“No.” Bunny said flatly.

“Oh come on!” Jack swung his arms upwards in protest. “Everyone else is going.”

“Well it can be everyone without me. I am not spending any time around _him._ ”

Jack pouted. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be going. “You’re no fun. It’s hot. Come to the beach with us.” He pleaded

“No.” Bunny turned to hop away. “I want no part in this farce you and North have going on.”

Jack huffed at the Pooka in annoyance. “Fine!” Jack thought of the pole and slammed the last orb down. “Be that way.”

~

Later, when he was back at the pole and had calmed down a bit, he realized that his plan still had a chance of success. Tooth would be there at least. He should have accounted for the fact that Bunny would be harder to break. With this in mind, he started arranging stuff for the next day. They would need towels, lunch, toys and snacks, and of course, something to swim in.

Once that was done he set off to find North. The man was still in his study chiseling away on his carousel, though now it  was almost done.

“I hope you’re not busy tomorrow!” He said as he swooped into the room.

North put down his tools and turned to face Jack. “I am assuming you found Neutral Ground?”

“Tooth is coming, at least.” He said with a shrug.

North raised one bushy eyebrow. “Coming where?”

Jack smiled. “The beach! I love the beach! I found an island years and years ago. One that’s really hard to get to, so humans don’t really use it.”

North wiped his hands on his pants. “We are going to beach then!”

Jack crowed internally.

“You like beach? I would think it not suited to your temperature.”

Jack hopped onto the edge of one of North’s tables. “I like trying to freeze the waves. I don’t usually stay for long, but one day shouldn’t really be a problem.”

“Ah.” North nodded. “I see. Are you needing help with anything?”

“Thanks, but I’ve got it all taken care of.” Jack slid to the door. “I’m going to get Tooth in the morning, and then we can go together. Sandy said he might drop by.”

“Then it sounds like we will have fun!”

“Yep!” He slid the door open. “I’m going to go get Pitch. Naptime is definitely over for sure!”

~

Jack thought that the day would pass by slowly due to his excitement and nerves, but time actually flew by, and before he knew it, it was morning. He woke with a slight headache, but dismissed it. They were going to the beach! He donned a deep blue pair of swim trunks and kept his hoodie – he could shed it once they got to the island. Then he woke Pitch up and dressed him in a pair of light colored mesh shorts and an off white t-shirt that had a decal of the sun wearing a pair of sunglasses. They weren’t Pitch’s usual style of clothes, but even Jack knew better than to wear all black to the beach. He thought that there was going to be a fight when the boy insisted he be allowed to wear his cloak, but in the end, Jack was able to talk (bribe) Pitch out of wearing it.

Then the two of them went in search of breakfast. When they reached the kitchen, Tooth and North were already at the table.

“I decided to come early.” Tooth said with a shrug. There was a small gaggle of Baby Teeth floating near her, and Baby Tooth instantly broke away from Jack and Pitch to join her sisters.

A light breakfast of assorted fruits and jams was set on the table, along with some toast. Jack went ahead and strapped Pitch into his chair. Tooth watched him as he tore toast into small chunks. And dipped them into various jams.

“You look like you know what you’re doing.” She commented.

“Well, I’ve had a bit of practice.” He smiled sadly. “Though, it’s been over 300 years since I’ve had to help raise a toddler.”

Tooth looked momentarily taken aback; they never knew what to say when Jack brought up his family. Not noticing the silence, Jack took his seat next to Tooth.

A piece of toast crunched under Pitch’s fingers and the boy swept the crumbs to the floor. One of the elves that were constantly running around underfoot chittered angrily.

“Peaches, that goes in your mouth, not on the floor.” Jack scolded.

“No.” Pitch responded as he swirled jelly around with his fingers.

“Someone’s going to be grumpy if he doesn’t eat anything.” Jack sing-songed as he placed some toast on his own plate.

“Ut-uh.”

“Uh-huh. Lunch isn’t for hours! You’ll wither away.” Jack teased. “Though, if you’re not hungry, I’m sure we could find an elf or two that are willing to eat your breakfast for you.”

Pitch hunkered down around his food. “MINE.”

Jack dropped his toast before he could bite into it. “Oh no.” He uttered, face going pale.

Tooth looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Who taught him that?!” He moaned.

North and Tooth looked at each other in unison as Jack slumped onto the table.

“What do you mean?” North asked.

“Mine.  He’s hit the mine stage.” Jack mourned.

“I’m assuming this is a bad thing?” Tooth asked as she gently placed a hand on his back.

Jack threw his hands up in despair. “From now on everything is going to be “ _mine_ ”.” He sighed.

“He is learning new words.” North explained to Tooth.

“If by learning, you mean he hears a new word and repeats it until it doesn’t even sound like a real word, then that would be correct.” Jack sat up. “But _mine_ is different. Kids know what “mine” means. Anything he can get his hands on from now on will be _mine_. Don’t let him get a hold of anything you want back.” Jack warned.

“Fingers are very strong for little boy, no Pitch?” North asked as he stroked his beard.

Pitch looked up to see three pairs of eyes staring at him as he ate. “Mine.” He said around his food.

“No one wants food that’s been in your mouth. Besides, I have my own.” He waved his toast at Pitch.

Tooth speared a melon cube off of her own plate. “Is it like this every morning?”

“No.” Jack and North spoke at the same time. “Sometimes he is grumpy.”

“Oh.” She swallowed. “Is this the first time he’s left the pole since you found him, Jack?”

He nodded and nibbled on his toast.

“Who else is coming?”

“Sandy said he might stop by later. Other than that, it’s just us.”

“I’m surprised Bunny didn’t want to come, if only to keep an eye on you-know-who.”

Jack snorted. “At least we can have fun without him looming over us.”

Breakfast was pretty much over by that point, and the three of them put away the left over fruit. Jack cleaned Pitch off and then took him out of the chair. Baby Tooth flew after Pitch as he wandered around the room, chasing elves.

“Shall we prepare to go?” North asked.

“I packed yesterday.” Jack darted out of the room. North looked at Tooth and met her questioning glace, and shrugged.

“Okay, we have towels for sitting and swimming, a change of clothes for Peaches. Some toys he likes to play with but not enough that if they get lost he’ll be too upset. Snacks if anyone gets hungry, and of course.” He went to the fridge and opened it up. “Lunch.” He withdrew a package filled with sandwiches and drinks.”

“You really thought this through.” Tooth noted.

“Yeah,” he laughed. “It’s almost like I’m an adult or something.”

North chuckled. “Indeed. It seems everyone is ready but me. I will go change, and then we can be off.” North disappeared, making sure not to let Pitch out of the room. Jack swooped forward and picked Pitch up so that he could swing him over his head before setting him on his hip.

Pitch exclaimed excitedly as he kicked out around Jack.

“We’re going to the beach!”

“Beach! Beach!”

Jack leaned on his staff while they waited for the older man to return. Once he did, Jack couldn’t hold back a laugh.

“You look like a candy cane.” Jack snorted. North was dressed in an old fashioned red and white striped swimsuit. He hadn’t seen one like that in over a hundred years.

North raised an eyebrow.

“No, it suits you.” He said. It did, now that Jack had seen him in the one piece swimsuit, he couldn’t picture him in anything else.

North smiled brightly. “Where are we going Jack?”

The Guardian of Fun gathered their things up. Tooth and North each took one of the sacks, while Jack took the refreshments, and with Pitch still in his grasp, he pulled a snow globe out from his pocket. He pictured the island in his head, the way that the sun felt while he was there, the sand beneath his feet, and then he brought the snow globe to his mouth and spoke. The portal flashed open.

“All aboard!”

The group made their way through the portal. It was still early morning on the island and the air was slightly humid, but still cool. The Guardians let out sounds of appreciation as they settled down under a cluster of palm trees and began to spread their towels down. Jack took a moment to spread plenty of ice around their food to keep it cool before he laid out his own towel.

“Alright, we’ve got a couple of hours before lunch. I’ve got an eye on Peaches, so you guys have fun!” He flashed them a smile as he stripped off his shirt. The mini-fairies erupted with chattering, and Jack turned to them with a questioning glance, then looked at Tooth who shrugged in response.

Pitch had been awestruck by the island, turning every which way to examine the sights.

“Hey little man.” Jack called as he flew over to where the toddler was pulling on the husks of one of the palm trees. He crouched down so that he was in Pitch’s line of sight. “Wanna go check out the ocean? It’s a great big pool you can swim in.”

“No baff.”

“It’s not a bath silly. It’s more fun than that. Just make sure that you don’t drink the water. It’s not very tasty.

Jack stood up and extended his hand to Pitch. Pitch grabbed onto his hand and the two made their way down to the water’s edge. The boy squealed when the water lapped at his toes.

“No!” He said stubbornly to the water as it did it again.

“Greater men then you have tried to stop the ocean. They were not successful either.” North said from behind them. The trio walked further down the shore till they came to a rocky outcropping.

North perched on the edge of one of them, and Pitch looked like he might have climbed up onto his lap, had a large wave not crashed upon the rocks at that very moment. The foamy water splashed the toddler across the face and he froze.

“Blech!” He exclaimed as he wiped his face off.

“Did you have your mouth open goofball?” Jack asked as he leaned down. “I told you that the water didn’t taste very good!”

Another wave crested similarly and sprayed them all with foam.

Pitch ran away shrieking, and Jack rose with a laugh to chase after him.

“I’m sure we can find a place where the water doesn’t splash nearly as bad.” He said once he caught up with Pitch. “We could sit over here and make a sand castle!”

“Casul?” Pitch asked as he tilted his head.

“Uh huh! It’s easy! I’ll show you how.”

~

While Jack and Pitch were occupied with making their sand castle, Tooth fluttered to where North was sitting. She made sure to stay out of the way of the spray, though it did not seem to bother the toymaker.

“They are good together, no?” He turned twinkling blue eyes on her.

“Yes, Jack’s always had a way with kids.” She smoothed the feathers along her head out before giving North a sharp look. “So you really don’t know why he is like this – why his memory is gone?”

North shrugged. “I think magic. I know why someone would do such a thing,” He gave her a pondering look. “But I do not know who.” He stretched as he stood up. “Ombric taught me many things, but I do not know how to deal with magics like these. It is very dangerous to mess with the mind. Until we know who did this, and how, it is safer to do nothing.”

With that, he walked over to where the boys were playing in the sand, and left her to her own thoughts.

~

Jack looked up as a shadow fell over him. He had managed to shape a fairly decent sand castle. He and Pitch were currently decorating the sides with pieces of broken shells and rocks.

“Hey.” Jack rubbed his eyes as he greeted North. His headache had settled in behind his eyes, leaving him with a dull throbbing sensation. He kept hoping that if he ignored it, it would go away.

“I am thinking it is time for swimming.”

Jack bounced up to his feet and turned to Pitch. “Want to go in the water?” Not waiting for an answer he turned to Tooth. “We’re going swimming, you coming?”

She shook her head. “I’m going to lay in the sun for a little while.”

“Dun wanna.” Pitch said when Jack grabbed his hand.

“You don’t wanna go in the water?” he asked

“No. Casul.”

Tooth flew forward and landed smoothly near them. “I don’t mind keeping an eye on him if you’d like to go swimming.”

Jack hesitated.

“Honestly, weren’t you talking about needing a vacation?” She asked with an amused expression. “Go.” She shooed him. “We will be fine.”

“Well, okay, if you say so.” Jack crouched down again and looked at Pitch. “Tooth is going to stay with you while North and I go swimming.” He pointed to the ocean. “If you want to come, we’ll be right over there.”

The duo made their way back to the water’s edge. North was the first in the ocean, making his way up deeper till the water was up to his hips.

Jack flew overheard and trailed his hand down over the water. He loved how cold the ocean could get. The water down by the island, however, was warm. That didn’t make him like it any less. Clutching his staff, he dived into the water. North laughed and shielded himself from the water that Jack had displaced. When the boy rose, North retaliated with his own splash. It didn’t take long for a full blown water brawl to break out between the two of them.

Tooth huffed. “Boys.” She muttered under her breath as she sat down next to Pitch.

“Whatcha doing?”

“Makin’ casul”

“Can I help?” She asked as she picked up a shell.

“Mine.” He declared as he snatched the shell back.

“Okay.” She said. “I’ll find my own then.” Tooth scanned the area nearby until she found another shell. She picked it up and brought it back to Pitch. “How about this one?”

“Mine.” He grabbed the shell.

“Are all of the shells on the beach yours?” She laughed

“Yes.”

“That’s a lot of shells! There’s too many to fit on one castle. What are you going to do with them all?”

Pitch paused. “Make more!”

“More castles? Yeah, we’ll have to. Where should we put the next one?”

Pitch stood up and wandered a bit further down the beach with Tooth on his tail. “Here.”  He said as he plopped down on the ground.

Tooth sat down on the ground next to him. “Alright kid, let’s get to work.”

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Jack and North finally tired of the ocean and clambered back onto land, but she and Pitch had built a whole town of sand castles. Granted, most of them looked more like decorated sand mounds than anything else.

“What is going on here?” Jack asked as he landed near them and shook the water out of his hair before it could freeze.

Tooth stood up and brushed sand out of her feathers. “It turns out that I am better at collecting teeth then building anything out of sand. Grew up in the jungle, what can you do?”

He held back a laugh. “Quite frankly, I can’t tell which ones you built, and which ones Pitch made. That’s pretty bad.”

She smacked him lightly in the arm. “Shut up, pretty boy. No one likes a show off.”

Jack snorted.

“What now?” She asked.

“I was thinking it was just about time for lunch.” He raised his voice enough for it to carry to where Pitch sat. “What do you think Peaches? Is it lunchtime?”

“No.” Pitch huffed as he shoved a broken shell into one of the sand mounds.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure, cause it feels like lunchtime to me.”

“NO!” Pitch screamed.

Tooth winced, but Jack merely rolled his eyes.

“Oh yeah. It’s definitely time for lunch.”

Jack soared forward and picked up Pitch, who screamed to be put back down. Jack ignored him and walked over to the towels they had laid out earlier. North was already there, pulling sandwiches and drinks out of the cooler. Pitch was still screaming when Jack set him down on one of the towels.

“You can keep playing after you eat.” Jack told him when the screaming threatened to give way to a full blown meltdown.

Tooth, having followed them, picked up one Pitch’s sippy cup and offered it to the boy.

“NOOO!” Pitch howled and smacked the cup out of her hand. It bounced once, sending sand spraying everywhere.

Tooth was taken aback by the intensity of the fit, and darted backwards. Her fairies let out angry squeals, which upset Pitch worse.

Jack sighed. All the screaming was making his head hurt worse. “You guys go ahead and start eating. I’ll take care of this.”

Jack scooped Pitch up and flew far enough off that they wouldn’t bother the other Guardians. He sat down holding onto Pitch, who was still kicking and screaming.

“Hey kiddo. I know that you want to play, but you can’t start screaming whenever you don’t get your way.” Jack rubbed circles onto Pitch’s back as he talked. “And you know better than to hit people.”

It took several minutes to calm Pitch down, and once he had done so, Jack pulled his hand back. “Now, are you ready to go apologize to Tooth? You yelled and were mean to her after she played with you. That wasn’t very nice.”

“Okay.” Pitch spoke softly.

Jack stood up and adjusted his grip on his staff. He gently flew them back to where the other Guardians were eating lunch.

Once he set Pitch down on the ground, the boy solemnly made his way to where Tooth was sitting. “Sowwy.” He quietly as he tugged on the hem of his t-shirt.

Tooth paused, sandwich halfway to her lips. She dropped the sandwich and with a coo, enveloped him in a hug. “It’s okay.” She pulled back and ruffled his hair.

Pitch flashed her a toothy grin and ran back over to Jack.

“Now we can eat.” Jack said he sat down next to North.  Tooth passed Pitch the sippy cup which she had wiped off on a towel and the boy popped it in his mouth.

Lunch went much smoother after that, the only problem came when they had finished and Jack realized that he didn’t have a way to clean the peanut butter and Jelly off of Pitch.

North was the one that suggested taking Pitch’s shirt off and wetting it in the ocean.

“Good idea!” Jack called as he wrangled the shirt off the boy and flew over to the water’s edge. Pitch toddled after him, taking care not to run into any of the sand castles that they had made. North and Tooth followed at a much more sedate pace.

“Mine!” Pitch called when Jack dipped the shirt into the water.

“I know it’s yours. I’m just going to clean you up.”

“I do it myself.”

Jack tilted his head to the side and offered the boy his shirt back. “Okay, but you have to do it reaaaaaly good!”

Pitch hummed in agreement and took the shirt. The bottom of it dragged in the sand, as he scrubbed at his face, actually managing to get most of the goo off.

“Done.”

“You missed a spot.” Tooth said.

“No. Done.” Pitch handed her the shirt and walked away.

Tooth stared at the gooey, sandy shirt in her hands and then looked at the other Guardians.

“Is very independent, no?” North said with a laugh.

“You should see some of the things he’s handed me.” Jack said as he took the shirt from her and swirled it in the water to clean it off. “It’s a thing, I guess. When he is done with something, he’s done with it. At least he give us things most of the time. I can never figure out what he does with his shoes when he takes them off. I spend more time looking for shoes than I spend keeping him from putting things in his…” Jack broke off and darted after Pitch. “What did I tell you? If it’s not food, it doesn’t go in your mouth!” Jack shouted as he landed in front of Pitch. “Spit it out.”

Tooth watched Jack pry a shell out of Pitch’s mouth and sighed. “Okay. You guys were right. There is no way that that boy is the Boogeyman.”

North shot a smug look at her. “I will not say I told you so…”

“Don’t.”

She hovered in the air as she watched the youngest Guardian lead Pitch in the shallow water to play. “North, how long do you think he’s been like this?”

He shook his head. “I do not know.” He motioned to the boys. “He is much different now than when Jack first brought him. He had terrible nightmares and was scared. I think he was down there for a long time.”

Tooth sighed. “North, I…” She paused and looked up at the sky. “Sandy’s here.”

Sandy waved at them as he descended to the beach.

“Sandy!” Jack called in greeting.

The Guardians made their way to cluster around the Dreamweaver. Jack had picked Pitch up and set him on his shoulder, and Tooth couldn’t hold back a giggle that together the two of them were just at North’s height.

“I was hoping that you’d be able to make it!” Jack said as he swung Pitch off of his shoulders and flipped him onto the ground.

“San’y San’y” Pitch squealed as he ran to greet him. Sandy wiggled his fingers in response.

Sandy was a great addition at the beach. He bridged the gap between the Guardians, bringing everyone together. Where before it had been “Jack and Pitch” and “Tooth and North”, now it was “The gang”. He made the appropriate faces of appreciation when Pitch dragged him over for a tour of the sand castles that they had made. He even joined in and made some of his own. It didn’t take long for competition to spring up, and soon the Guardians were engaged in an elaborate sand castle building war. Pitch happily ran between them, bringing them seashells and driftwood to adorn their sand sculptures with. When he bored of that, he took out some of the toys that Jack brought and settled down near the ocean, playing in the light waves that lapped the shore.

Jack’s headache was getting worse, but he didn’t want to spoil the fun that everyone seemed to be having, so he kept quiet. He made sure to keep an eye on Pitch at all times, and when he saw the boy settle in the surf, he called out.

“Hey, Pitch! Why don’t you come play closer to us?”

“Don’t wanna.” Pitch replied as he brought one of the toys down with a splash.

Jack shot him an unimpressed look and stood up. Spots swarmed into his vision. The other Guardians looked up in concern when he swayed, but he brushed them off. “I stood up too fast, I’m fine.” He swooped forward, relying on the wind to carry him to Pitch.

Jack dropped down into the muddy sand and sighed appreciatively as the warm water rolled over his feet. Pitch crawled closer to him until he could sit next to him. He mimicked Jack’s posture and leaned over to rest his head on his arm. Jack shifted so that he could wrap his arm around the toddler.

“It has been a really looooong day. Are you tired?”

“No.” Pitch passed Jack the toy he had been holding in his left hand. It was a brightly colored toy superhero.

Jack laughed as he examined the figure. “Not even a little?”

“Nuh-uh.” Pitch said with a shake of his head.”

“Man, then you’ve got more energy than me. I am exhausted. I could probably sleep for a thousand years.”

“No. No sleep. Silly Jack.”

“Oh? I bet I could sleep that long. But I don’t think it’d be very fun. Maybe someone would be willing to take a nap for me so that I don’t have to sleep that long.”

Pitch cocked his head in confusion.

“Yeah, I bet if you take a nap in my place, I won’t be tired anymore.” Jack stretched and yawned. “Of course, I could go take a nap myself.”

“No! I do it!” Pitch hopped up and gave the other toy to Jack. “I nap.”

“Really? You would do that for me? Thanks, Peaches!”

Pitch beamed up at him. “Naptime.”

“Let’s go find a spot to lay down.” Jack said as he stood up. He put both toys in one hand and took Pitch’s hand with the other. They walked over to where the Guardians had spread their towels out. Jack picked up his and Pitch’s and shook them to clean the sand off of them. He looked around for a spot that was covered with plenty of shade and was far enough away from the Guardians that their talking wouldn’t wake Pitch up.

“This spot looks perfect.” He laid Pitch’s towel out, and folded his towel into a pillow. Pitch wrapped himself up in the towel.

“Sweet dreams.” Jack said as he adjusted the makeshift blanket. It didn’t take long for the toddler’s breathing to even out and wisps of dreamsand to form over his head. Jack waved to Sandy in thanks and slumped back against one of the trees. It was really hot. He was really thirsty. In a minute he would get up and get something to drink. Right after everything stopped spinning. He needed to…

Jack jerked awake with a start, eyes rolling wildly as he searched for whatever had dragged him back to consciousness. Everything was blurry and distorted. A panicked cry met his ears, and Jack turned towards it. Pitch! Jack jumped up and clutched his staff in his hands. Some big gray mass was hovering over Pitch. Was it a nightmare? He couldn’t tell. He should have been worried about his vision, but he could worry about that later. It was more important that he protect Pitch.

He sprang forwards with a yell, bringing his staff down hard, spewing frost and ice unthinkingly. His head might be muddled, but he knew that something was scaring Pitch and he had to protect him.

A pained yell erupted from the creature, and Jack brought his staff down again and again. “Get away from him!”

The mass lunged forward, and yanked staff out of his hands. He didn’t see where it landed, as he was too distracted trying to get away from the arms that had wrapped themselves around him, and the weight holding him down.

“What the hell?”

Jack struggled wildly, lashing out in an attempt to get free.

“Jack, mate, calm down.”

“Bunny?” Jack gasped as his struggling ceased. The world shifted abruptly as Bunny stood up and pulled Jack up as well. Jack leaned on his staff, unable to support himself.

“Wanna explain what that was about?”

“When did you get here?” It was too hot. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Black ate away at his vision.

“You okay, mate?”

“I… I don’t..” He murmured as his legs gave out.

Bunny leaped forward and caught him before he could slam into the ground. The other Guardians had been drawn in by the ruckus, and rushed forward, reaching Bunny just as he lowered Jack slowly to the ground. They crowded around the fallen Guardian, staring in shock. A deep red flush had covered his cheeks and chest, and a sheen of sweat covered his whole body. He moaned weakly as Bunny adjusted his grip.

Pitch crawled forward, dragging his towel behind him. “Jack?” he asked.

At once, the spell was broken. The Guardians sprang into action. North went to grab a towel to lay Jack on, Tooth darted off to find a water bottle, and Sandy searched for Jack’s staff.

Bunny turned his attention on Pitch. “This is your fault.” He bit out harshly. “I know it.”

Pitch stared at him, wide eyed at the anger in his voice. “Jaaack.” He whined, torn between seeing out comfort from the fallen Guardian, and running away from the angry one.

Tooth slid in between them and down next to Jack and uncapped her water bottle. North passed her the towel which she wetted down and used to pat at his face and neck. North tried to get the boy to drink some of the water.

“We should get him back to the pole.” Tooth said when Jack twisted and violently threw the water back up.

North nodded in agreement and sought out one of his snow globe. Bunny adjusted his grip on Jack and stood up again. Sandy helped them gather their things together and escorted them back to the pole.

Bunny brought Jack to his room, and while the Guardians were occupied with making him comfortable, he turned his attention to Pitch.

“Don’t think I’m not onto you. I know you aren’t as innocent as you pretend to be. My _friend_ got _hurt_ because of you. And I’m not going to let you get away with it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh evil, nasty cliffies, we hates it, it buuuurns. But have no fear, all shall be well, for pretty soon, Jack's going to be getting infected with a whole different sort of fever. One with crazy costumes, lots of candy, and a pretty banging party.  
> Of course, the fact that Halloween is the scariest time of the year hasn't escaped the Guardians notice, and they're all just watching Pitch to see what happens.


	9. September

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack hasn't been sick in 300 years, so he was a little bit overdue. He hasn't been home in a while either.

Time was disorienting, at best. Things swam past his vision. Faces and voices were twisted beyond recognition. Words were garbled. He felt trapped in his own body. All of this was encompassed by an oppressive heat. He felt like he was on fire. It was agony. And then there was nothing.

North tried to keep from hovering – he knew that these things took time. Honestly, they should have expected this. You couldn’t spend so much time away from your element and not expect to be affected. Jack might have spent time in the heat before, but North had no doubt that soon afterwards, he was somewhere cold again, regaining his balance. But now that Pitch was here, Jack had been spending almost all of his time inside, in cozy rooms with roaring fireplaces. This had resulted in the slow rising of his body temperature over time. It might not have been a problem for several more months, or even a year, if the Guardians had not gone to the island and spent most of the day in the hot, tropic sun.

Now the boy was consumed with a fever, delirious, and in pain. It was all North could do to try and keep him cool. His window had been propped open when they returned to the Pole, and a snowy breeze constantly swirled through the room. North kept busy by constantly changing out the icepacks surrounding the boy, and by making sure that Pitch had enough blankets to stay warm – the toddler had refused to leave his side. It was slow work bringing his temperature back down to normal, while also trying to take care of a very upset child, but all of his hard work paid off when Jack finally stopped whimpering in pain, and the ugly red flush faded from his cheeks. Yet he did not wake. The Guardian of Fun slept, and slept, and slept, remaining completely unaware of all of the drama happening around him. North wished he could say the same, but Jack and Pitch needed all of his attention right now, so for once, he let someone else handle it.

Of his two charges, North was unsure who needed more attention. Jack’s needs were time consuming, but simple. Pitch, however, was another story. After the events of Jack’s collapse, and following mayhem, it seemed that they were back to square one. Pitch was withdrawn and sullen, with good reason. North made sure that he acted as normal as possible around him. He offered him plenty of comfort and tried to engage him in conversation, with minimal success. He plied the boy with food and drink whenever he could, but it did not take long for Pitch’s cheeks to hollow out again. It was like the first week that Jack had brought him here. Nothing seemed to work. Dark bags filled the space under his eyes, and North knew that he did not sleep well. All he could do was let Pitch stay near Jack, as that seemed to help. The freezing room was not the best place for a toddler, but North bundled him up in the warmest clothes he could find, and topped that off with Pitch’s favorite cloak. Now it was simply a waiting game.

Jack blinked to awareness. His head felt fuzzy, and his mouth was dry and filled with a terrible taste. He was utterly exhausted. ‘ _What happened?’_ He thought to himself a he tried to sit up and felt a heavy weight on his side. He glanced down to see Pitch, snuggled in several blankets and bundled up in his cloak. His gray face was paler than usual, and dark circles rimmed his eyes. His face was gaunt. It was a strange look on the toddler, and he wondered what had caused the boy such distress. After a moment, he noticed the toddler was shivering. It took another moment to detangle Pitch from his side, and so as not to wake him, he gently moved the boy to the side of the bed. Then he adjusted the blankets around him. After that was done, he looked around the room for some explanation of what had happened.

There was a pitcher of water on his nightstand. Other than that, nothing looked out of place, besides the fact that his window had been propped open, and the Wind was swirling around inside his room. No wonder Pitch was cold. Jack was just about to stand up and close the window when his door swung open. North slid in with a silent grace that Jack had previously thought him incapable of. His eyes widened when he saw Jack sitting up.

“You are awake!”

“Wha?”  Jack asked, his voice cracking.

North poured him a glass of water from the pitcher, and Jack greedily drank it down. North filled his cup up again, and frowned down at Pitch. He crossed the room and closed the window.

“Much better. I thought we were going to have a Pitch-cicle for a while!” He rumbled as he walked back to the bed. “Now, what is the last thing you are remembering?”

“The island. I think Bunny was there?” He looked up at the other Guardian for confirmation.

North nodded. “Yes. You got very sick from the sun. In a way, the sun was melting you.” He chuckled quietly at his own joke.

“That’s never happened before.” Jack said as he ran his fingers though his hair.

“You spend too long away from cold, is not good for frost. I am thinking from now on, it would be best to spend more time outside. We do not want a repeat.”

Jack’s head whirred as he processed that. It was something he had never experienced before. North was right, he had never spend this much away from snow. He was always out spreading snow days, or going for joyrides with the wind. It made sense in a roundabout way.

“How long was I sick?” Jack glanced down at Pitch. “’He looks terrible.”

“I could say the same for you, Jack. It has been _weeks_. He was worried. We all were.”

“Weeks?!” Jack exclaimed.

“Indeed. Next time, we are being more careful, no?”

“Yeah.” He replied weakly.

“Good. I know someone will be very glad to see you are awake.” North crossed his arms. “You might be weak for a while. Stay in bed. I will go bring you food. Why don’t you go ahead and wake Pitch up. I have a feeling he won’t mind naptime being cut short.” He winked at Jack before exiting the room with the same grace he had entered with.

Jack hunched over Pitch. “Peaches.” Jack sing-songed in a low voice. “Wake up~” He shook Pitch gently as he continued to cajole him into waking up.

Pitch yawned and blinked sleepily up at Jack several times before recognition slipped into his eyes.

“JACK!” he squealed as he launched himself upwards and wrapped slender arms around Jack’s neck.

Jack smiled and returned the hug. When he wrapped his arms around Pitch’s slender frame, the boy started crying.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He said soothingly. “It’s alright.” It must have been jarring for Pitch to see the very lively Guardian struck so still, sleeping for weeks, and in pain. No wonder Pitch was upset. Jack spent every day since they had found him with Pitch. Playing with him, defending him, and taking care of him. Seeing him like that must have been scary. Especially since he’d never seen anyone get sick before. Jack continued to sooth Pitch until he began to calm down.

Pitch pulled away and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “No more sleepy.” He pointed a stern finger at Jack.:

“Yessir. No more sleeping. Were you scared?” Jack asked Pitch, who nodded.

“Well you don’t have to be anymore. I got sick, but I’m all better now.”

“Stay?”

Jack paused, trying to work out what Pitch meant. “Stay better? Now that I know what happened, I can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“No! Stay!”

 _‘Stay where?’_ Jack wondered, and then it hit him that Pitch had been alone for a very long time. He was worried that Jack was going to leave him alone again. “Yep.” He scooted back until he could rest against the headboard, and pulled Pitch forward. “I’m going to stay forever and ever. You’ll never be able to get rid of me!” He held his pinkie out to Pitch, who solemnly mocked his action. “I promise.”

North entered the room and set the tray on the bed next to Jack. The older Guardian picked a cookie off the tray and handed it to Pitch, who held on to the cookie but didn’t eat it.

Jack shifted, moving Pitch to sit by his side, and reached for the tray. It bore a bowl of cold soup, cubed fruit pieces and another cookie, along with another glass of water, this one with several ice cubes. He ate ravenously. Being sick had apparently given him the mother of all appetites.

“Did I miss anything?” He asked his mouth full of food.

North looked pointedly at Pitch before he looked back at Jack. “You will be happy to know that your plan worked in the end.”

Jack gave North a quizzical look as he swallowed. ‘ _What plan? There had been a plan? A plan for what?’_

His confusion must have showed, because North clarified. “Your idea to make Tooth like Pitch.”

_‘Oh. That plan.’_

North tapped his fingers along the edge of Jack’s nightstand. “Bunny caused quite the fuss while we were taking care of you.”

 _‘Bunny had made problems… for Pitch?’_ He rolled his eyes. “Of course he did.”

“Not for long though.”

Jack’s eyes widened. “What happened?”

North put his hands on his hips and bellowed a laugh. “He was not being a very good Guardian, and when Tooth found out, she was very upset. She came right in and walloped him!”

“Seriously?”

North nodded. “Yes. Bunny is not happy, but I think he will leave Pitch alone now.”

Jack put his spoon down and leaned back against the pillows. “There’s that at least.” He blinked slowly, eyes suddenly heavy.

“You should get more rest.” North said as picked the tray up and set it on the nightstand. “It may take a while to get your strength back up.”

“Yeah, totally.” Jack murmured as he slid down.

“Let’s go eat lunch!” North said as he tried to pick Pitch up.

“NO!” Pitch cried.

“Hey, It’s okay,” Jack told him. “Remember?” He held up his pinkie. “I’ll be here when you finish.”

This time, when North picked him up, he didn’t struggle. By the time the door closed behind them, Jack was asleep again.

~

Jack wasn’t counting the days, but it must have taken him about a week to recover. It was slow going, but the amount of time they spent out in the snow was refreshing. And he wasn’t the only one feeling better. Pitch was starting to resemble his usual self, or rather, his usual toddler self. Everything should have been back to normal, but he felt something bubbling to the surface just under his skin. A restlessness that wasn’t just from being weak and sick. There was something calling to him.

One night, after they had put Pitch to bed, Jack and North found themselves seated in the study. The usual fire was out, and the room looked strange lit only by the harsh glow of electricity.

“Hey, North” Jack piped up.

“Yes?” he answered without looking up from his book.

“What’s the date?”

The man thought for a second. “It is a few months from Christmas. September, I think.”

“Ah.” Jack said, as everything clicked into place

“Why do you ask?”

“It felt like a needed to go and do _something.”_ He waved his hand in a spiral. “I think I need to go out and start bringing in the season. I bet Pitch would like getting out too.”

North set his book down and turned to Jack “I figured you would be going out soon.” North intertwined his fingers. “But, I am not sure if it is a good idea to bring Pitch along with you yet.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. “What, do you not trust me?”

North raised a calming hand. “Is not that. You have not gone out to spread frost since you got sick. If you suddenly tire, it would be best to not have to worry about small child as well.”

Jack relaxed. “Okay, good point. I know you’re starting to get into gear with Christmas prep. When can we work something out?”

“I can spare one day. It is still early enough in the season. If you want to go tomorrow, I can watch him. Or, you could see if Tooth will watch him sometime.”

“Tooth? Really?”

“Yes! She was great help when you were sick.”

“Huh. I did want her to get to spend more time with him.”

“Ha! If you are going out, you stop by and see her.”

“Yeah, of course.” He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. “Well, I guess if I’m going out tomorrow, I should get some rest, I’ve got to keep my strength up. It should be fun! Goodnight, North.”

~

The next day, he made sure to spend time with Pitch before he left. They ate breakfast together, and then spent several hours playing outside. When lunchtime came, they headed back inside to eat. North joined them, and when it was over, he took Pitch aside to explain to him that he was going to be gone for several hours, but that he would come back before bedtime. As he expected, this led to a major meltdown.

“No go!” Pitch shouted through his tears. “You pwomised.”

“I know I promised. I’m not breaking that promise. I’m coming back. I just have to do some things. North is going to stay with you until I come back. You guys will have fun!” Jack said as he crouched down in front of Pitch laying his left hand on his shoulder.

“ **NO!”** Pitch screamed as he slapped Jack’s hand off of him.

Jack frowned. “That wasn’t very nice. Just because you’re upset, doesn’t mean that you can hit people. You _know_ that.” Jack picked Pitch up, keeping a strong hold on him, and stuck him back into his booster seat. “I think someone needs some time to calm down.” Pitch screamed and kicked at the bottom of the table. “And calm down time just became Time-Out.”

Jack took Pitch out of his chair and flew to the side of the room, where a small chair was placed in the corner. “You know the drill.” He said as he put Pitch in the chair. “15 minutes.” Then he flew back to where North was still sitting at the table.

“I should have explained this to him earlier. Sorry.”

North waved him off. “It is okay. I can handle this. You can leave.”

“Are you sure?” Jack asked.

“Of course!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a snow globe. “Here, take this. Faster this way.”

“Thanks.” Jack eyed Pitch warily as he accepted the globe. “Alright, if you’re sure you’re okay with dealing with _this._ ” He said loudly so North could hear him over Pitch

“I am.”

“Okay. He goes down for his nap at two, and then he gets a snack at three, but nothing after that or he’ll spoil his appetite. And if he…”

North raised a hand. “Jack. I know. I have this. Go.”

Jack sighed. “Sorry. I’m being silly. Right, I’ll see you guys later.”

He decided not to use the globe in front of Pitch, in case it made him more upset. With one last glace, he slipped out of the room.

~

The globe deposited him close enough to the Tooth Palace that he didn’t have very far to go. He found Tooth fairly easily. She was in the middle of giving a cluster of fairies directions, but her face lit up when she saw him, and she waved at him in greeting. He waited for her to finish, making sure he stood out of the way of the fairies.

Once she was finished, she darted to him and enveloped him in a hug.

“It’s really good to see you awake!” She pulled back. “You really gave us quite the scare.

He shuffled. “Sorry about that.”

“No major harm done.” She smiled.

He returned it with one of his own. “I heard that you did some damage to Bunny, though.”

Her feathers bristled. “He is so hard-headed. Once he gets an idea in his head, it’s hard to change his mind. But that’s no excuse for the way he was acting.”

Jack cocked his head slightly to the left. “What exactly happened. North just told me that you knocked some sense into him.”

She frowned. “Bunny’s got it in his head that Pitch got you sick intentionally.”

“He… What? That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Why would he think that?”

She shook her head. “He still thinks Pitch is trying to weaken the Guardians so that he can beat us when he gets back to normal.”

He paused, finger in the air. “Yep. It still remains the stupidest thing I have ever heard.”

She laughed. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought so. I may have told him what he could do with his harebrained accusation.”

“I see.” He laughed. “And you punched him because?”

She shrugged. “He was scaring Pitch.”

Jack stared, mouth agape.

“I realize the irony of defending the Boogeyman when he’s scared, but Pitch is a child. No one deserves to be treated like that. You were right.”

Jack leaned back on his staff. “Did it hurt you to admit that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Somewhat. No one is perfect, Jack.”

“At least you can own up to your mistakes.” He said with a laugh.

Her smile faded. “Yeah…”

“Well, I just wanted to thank you for helping Pitch and North out while I was sick. I owe ya one.”

Her smile returned. “We’re friends, Jack. Friends help each other.” She rested her hand on his shoulder. “No thanks are needed.”

“Still.”

A loud squeak came from across the room, and Jack whipped around. One of the mini-fairies was zipped over and hovered in front of his face.

“Baby Tooth!” He exclaimed, cupping his palm for her to land in. “I was wondering where you were!”

She settled down onto his palm and chirped at him.

“She wasn’t really doing much while you were sick, so I brought her home with me for a while.” Tooth explained. “She can go back with you if she wants.”

Baby Tooth chirped excitedly. “I’d say that’s a yes.” Tooth laughed.

“Well, I’m not headed home just yet.”

“Where are you going?”

Jack tapped the ground with his staff, sending out a small wave of frost. “I haven’t been home in a while, I thought it’d be nice to drop by, if only for a little bit.”

She leaned forward and ruffled his hair. “You’re a good kid, Jack.”

Jack pulled away. “Hey, I’m not a kid! I’m over 300 years old!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh Sweetie, you’re adorable.” She laughed. “But seriously, not many people would be willing to do the things that you’ve done for Pitch.”

Jack leaned on his staff. “It was the right thing to do. “

“It’s not always easy to do the right thing though.” She replied.

He shrugged. “It’s usually worth it in the end though.”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “I should really get back to work, and I know you’re dying to go home. Take Baby Tooth, have fun.”

He brought Baby Tooth up to his shoulder. “Thanks! See ya later!” He called to here with a wave of his hand.

He used the snow globe to take them directly to his lake. The wind here had a sharper bite than the one in Asia had, but not by much. In a week or so, that would change. It was nice to be home. He hadn’t been back in, had it really been four months? In 300 years, he had never been away for that long. Even before he had his memories, something about this place kept drawing him back. He whooped in excitement as the Wind tossed him through the air. Clearly it had missed him as much as he missed it.

“Let’s go see if we can find Jamie!” He called to Baby Tooth. She chittered in affirmative, and the two took off towards town.

Familiar sights sprang past his eyes, and the streets were as busy as usual, though he noticed a conspicuous absence of children. It must have been late enough in September that school had already started back up. That was a bummer. He’d just have to spend some time hanging around town until the kids were free again. It was too late in the day to put frost on anything; the sun would melt it in seconds. At least summer was drawing to a close. It was almost pleasant outside. In a week or two, the weather would break, and fall would blossom around them.

However, frost wasn’t the only thing that he did. True, it was what he was best known for, but there was a little known fact that Jack frost had a side job. He wasn’t officially in charge of it, but he liked changing the colors on the trees. Unlike frost, which was pretty, but monochrome, the turning of leaves was bright and colorful. And so, Jack set to work. He made his way slowly through the town heading to his favorite believers’ house.

He was hanging onto a tree branch, taking a break, when he heard voices coming from the front yard. He dropped to the ground just as Jamie and his friends burst into the backyard, tossing a football between them. Caleb threw the ball the Claude, who dropped it when he caught sight of the Guardian.

“Jack!” He shouted, alerting everyone else to the Spirit’s presence. The children crowded around him. They were a lot taller than they had been when he first met them, and he knew that it wouldn’t be long before they were teenagers. Kids these days, they grew up so fast.”

“Hey there kiddos, D’ya miss me?”

Voices overlapped in reply.

“Jack, you were gone, for like, ever!”

“Where have you been?”

“We were wondering when you would come back!”

“Whoa there!” He laughed. “I’ve been keeping busy, but I haven’t forgotten about you guys.” He promised. “I was at the North pole earlier today, and let me tell you, Christmas this year is going to be _awesome._ ” He winked at them. “You guys are still on the “Nice List”, right?”

“Yes!” The group laughed.

“I think we earned a permanent spot on the nice list.” Cupcake snorted.

“What were you doing with Santa?” Pippa asked.

Jack hopped onto the top of his staff. “Well, the Guardians and I are working on something big.”

“Really?” Monty asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. “What?”

Jack slumped off of his staff dramatically. “Boring adult stuff. Never grow up kids. Stay young, have fun forever.”

Jamie laughed. “Keep that up, and you’ll have to change your name to Peter Pan.”

“Would that make you guys my lost boys? And girls?” He corrected.

“It would be cool to be able to fly.” Claude commented.

“The lost boys didn’t fly. The Darlings did. Duh.” His brother shot back.

“You do have a Tinkerbell.” Pippa said, pointing to Baby Tooth.

“Hey, whaddya know. So I do.”

“I wanna be Wendy!” Cupcake shouted.

“I’m Hook!” Caleb yelled, mocking his hand into the shape of a hook.

And so began an impromptu game of make believe that spanned from the time they got home till their parents called them in to dinner hours later.

Jack waved goodbye to the kids, and was about to take off when he felt Jamie tug on his sleeve.

“Hey, Jack?”

“Yeah?” He answered, adjusting his staff. “What’s up?”

“That thing, the one you said the Guardians were working on? It’s Pitch, isn’t it?” It sounded less like a question, and more like an accusation.

Jack hesitated before answering. “Yeah. It is.”

“I knew it!”

Jack shuffled. “You haven’t told anyone else, have you?”

“Are you crazy?” Jamie exclaimed. “The last thing I want to do is tell everyone and scare them again. That will only make him stronger.”

“When did you figure it out?”

“I recognized him when you brought him over last time, and I knew nothing but Pitch would keep you too busy to come and visit us.” Jamie crossed his arms with a huff. “We were worried about you.”

Jack’s eyes widened. “You were worried?”

“Of course I was!” Jamie shouted. “You show up with your nemesis, then go off grid for months? Makes you wonder what’s going on.”

Jack floated to Jamie’s porch. “I’m realizing lately that I’m kinda sucky at the whole friendship business. I’m 300 years out of practice. I’m not used to having people worry about me. I promise I won’t let it happen again.”

Jamie joined him on the porch. “Good.”

“Aright kid, I’ll give it to you straight. Yes, Pitch is the reason I’ve been away, but it’s not for why you think. He’s not dangerous.”

“Is he still a kid?”

“Yep.”

Jamie crossed his arms. “Why?”

“To tell you the truth, I really don’t know why. He doesn’t either, he has no memory. The Boogieman isn’t really dangerous when he doesn’t’ remember that he’s the Boogieman.”

“I’m not scared of him.” Jamie said defiantly.

“That’s good.”

“I’ll tell you what I am scared of.”

Jack perked up, an uneasy feeling creeping in.

“Oh?” He asked.

“I’m scared of whatever did _that_ to the Boogieman. Someone that can turn him into a harmless little kid and steal their memories, not someone that I would want to run into.” He shuddered. “And what if they go after someone else?” Jamie glanced around. “Man, Halloween is still a month away, and I’m already giving myself the heebie-jeebies.”

Jack paused. On some level, he had know that something had caused what happened to Pitch, but he had never really made the connection that someone could have done it on purpose, or that they might do it again. Pitch was the bump in the night, the monster under the bed, the Nightmare King. The idea that there was someone out there scarier than him, that thought didn’t settle to well with him.

“Hey now,” Jack said, trying to reassure Jamie. “We don’t know for sure that someone did this to him. Remember what happened to Bunny? He got little one time too. It might just be a belief thing. Don’t start scaring yourself too bad.”

Jamie relaxed a little at his word. He wished that he could do the same.

“Nonetheless, I’m glad you guys are the front line this time.”

“Hey, I seem to remember someone volunteering themselves to be the front line last time.”

Jamie nudged his shoulder. “That was before I was old enough to know better.”

Jack laughed. “What does that say about me?”

“Jamie!” His mother’s voice rang out the door. “I’m not going to call you again, dinner’s ready!”

“Okay! I’m coming!” Jamie called through the screen. “I’ve got to go.” He said as he turned back to Jack. “Have a good night, and don’t be a stranger, okay?” He pulled the door open. “Hey, Jack, why don’t you bring Pitch around sometime? It’s got to be hard to be a little kid when no one can see you or even knows that you exist.”

Jack frowned as he closed the door.

“Yeah…” He said to himself. How was it that a kid barely in the double digits had managed to throw him off twice in one night?  “Night Jamie.”

He had planned to spend the evening spreading frost, but now he really wanted to talk to North. He let Baby Tooth rest in his hoodie pocket, and then he called to the wind and took off as fast as he could. North would know if there was someone capable of doing such a thing. Surely, he would have brought it to Jack’s attention, if he did. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check.

The Guardians were created to fight Pitch. Surely Manny would have warned them if something worse was on the way. Or, he thought, maybe Manny doesn’t care because it happened to _Pitch_. The wind carried him higher in the sky, so it could move even faster, and Jack glanced upwards. “You know, Manny.” He called. “My life would be a lot simpler if you would talk to me.” He grumbled. But some things in his life remained consistent, and Manny didn’t reply. He sighed. It looked like he would have to rely on the allies that were actually willing to talk to him.

The workshop came into view, it’s splendor lit from beneath the ice. The massive face carved into the cliff was still awe inspiring after all this time. It was so huge inside, and to think that some people missed out on it’s beauty because they stopped believing in wonder and magic. Adults were silly that way. Jack patted the ice next to the tunnel wall were the sleigh came out of as he slipped in. He could use the front door, but that was just boring, and he was hoping the familiar tunnel would set his stomach at ease. It usually made him happy to rush through the twists and turns, spreading ice along the walls in intricate patterns, but today, the journey felt flat. He slowed down as he approached the reindeer pen, not wanting to spook them, and walked the rest of the way on foot.

He did a quick flyby through the house, looking for North and Pitch. He found the pair in the workshop, North was showing different toys off to Pitch, who was messing with them with varying shades of interest. Apparently, he had gotten over his fit, and was back to his normal behavior. This is, if his state of dress was anything to go by.

Baby Tooth squeezed out of his pocket and chirped in greeting to the duo.

The squeaking caught Pitch’s attention, and the boy looked around the room.

“ **Jack!** ” Pitch squealed when he noticed him.

“Hey Kiddo!” He called, swooping Pitch up from the floor and blew a raspberry on to his bare tummy.

“Agh!” Pitch squealed and tried to wiggle out of his grip.

“Where is your shirt? Am I going to have to call out a search and rescue team? And one for your shoes as well? You’re a wild man.” He set Pitch back down and ruffled his hair. “So what have you guys been up to?”

“Not much. Pitch has been helping me test toys for Christmas.”

“How exciting. Did you have fun?”

“Yes!” Pitch replied.

“Would I be interrupting anything if I asked you to talk?”

North raised an eyebrow. “What about?”

Jack tilted his head towards Pitch.

“Ah.” North said with a nod. “No problem.” He turned to Pitch. “I think it is time for desert! Who wants ice cream?”

“Me me me!” Pitch said, dropping a wooden puzzle.

“I thought you would.”

The trio quickly picked up the toys, then headed upstairs.

They settled down in the dining room, and once Pitch was sufficiently distracted by ice cream.

“Did you have a good time?” North asked

“Huh?” He asked, then realized the older man was asking about his outing. “Oh, yeah. Tooth and I had a good talk, and she let me take Baby Tooth with me.” He said, gesturing to the mini-fairy perched on his shoulder.

“That is nice.”

“Yeah, and I went to Burgess for a while too. Jamie and the gang are in school already.”

North made a noise of acknowledgement.

“Jamie brought up an interesting point.”

“Yes?”

“Well, we, the Guardians, I mean, were made to fight You-Know-Who, right?

“That is correct.”

“Well, if there was someone more dangerous, would we go after them too?”

North adjusted in his seat, and stroked his beard

“We do not go looking for fights, Jack. However, if someone was hurting the children, we would stop them.”

“What if someone was hurting other spirits. What would we do then?”

North placed his hands on the table and twined his fingers together.

“Where are you coming from? Do you know someone who is hurting other spirits? Or planning to?”

“Not really, no.” Jack fiddled with the crook of his staff.

“Then this is about what happened to Pitch?”

“Yeah. I was wondering if we knew who did this, would go after them?”

The older Guardian sighed. “Assuming that someone did this to him on purpose, and we found out who did it, we could do something. Of course, this could have happened to him in other ways, like we discussed earlier.”

Jack scratched at the back of his head. “Let’s assume for the moment that someone actually did this to him, would we be able to reverse it?”

“If I knew more details, I could undo it myself.”

Jack straightened. This was new information to him. “What? Why haven’t you tried?”

North took a deep breath. “Magic, can be simple. A long time ago, when I was much, much, younger, I was an apprentice to a wizard in a town called Santoff Claussen. All of the children there took lessons from him, learning many things that have been forgotten by the world at large. And the first spell that everyone learned was simple. _I believe, I believe, I believe._ ”

Jack leaned forward, perpetually hungry for information about the other Guardians past. For many of them, it had been such a long time that they had practically moved on.

“I’m starting to think that belief is a big deal in magic.”

North smiled at him. “You are correct. You can do very much by just believing. However, just because magic can be simple, doesn’t mean it is. There are too many unknowns in this situation. What if the spell only took his memory, and he is small for different reason. What if spell did both? What if there is another reason for this that has nothing to do with magic? If I get involved now, I could make things a whole lot worse.”

“So for now we do nothing?”

“Until we know more, yes.”

Jack scowled at that.

“I know that you don’t want to hear that. It is hard to look for clues when there are none. For now, we simply do what we can, doing what we have been. If we ever find out that someone did this, and we could undo it, then we could keep an eye on that person to make sure they don’t do it again, as well as keeping an eye on Pitch to make sure that he does not seek revenge on either us or them.

“But if someone did do this, they’d have to be really good with magic, right? Who do you think is capable of this?”

“It is not that black and white. Someone very powerful could have wiped his memories entirely. Someone so-so could have just masked them. If you are looking for someone with considerable magical talents, then I would be the first suspect.” He paused, scratching his belly in thought. “Then maybe, Tooth, followed closely by the rest of the Guardians.”

“Whoa, woah, I meant besides the Guardian. None of us would do something like this.” He paused. “Right?”

North shrugged. “I do not think so.” He smacked one balled up hand into his palm. “We put the smack down on Pitch last time. I see no reason anyone would have gone any further. It is not easy to know who could have done it, or why they did.”

Pitch looked up at the sound of his name. He’d been smearing his hands through the last remnants of chocolate fudge and melted ice cream and licking them. When the other two men ignored him, he smacked his bowl on the table to get their attention, and then he kept doing it, simply because he liked the sound.

Jack reached across the table and plucked the bowl out of his hands. “You are a mess.” He said to the boy.

Jack spared a glance back to North. “I’m going to go give him a bath. Talk to you later?”

North nodded. “Of course.” They stood up, North carrying their empty bowls to the kitchen, and Jack and Pitch going to the bathroom.

As they walked, Pitch reached up and grabbed his hand, and Jack felt his heart clench. North had brought up a good point. They really couldn’t be certain that someone had done this to Pitch. He’d been alone and unprotected in his lair for about a year. They could have finished him off then, if they wanted to. But that was before the Guardians got involved. True, no one had done anything yet, but then again, they had been keeping Pitch inside North’s workshop. The only people who knew about his _condition_ were either guardians, or a ten year old child.

Now that winter was coming, Jack needed to be outside. Pitch would have a conniption if Jack was gone every day, and Jack didn’t feel okay leaving him alone either. That meant that more often than not, Pitch would probably come with him. And if someone had done this to Pitch, and they found out the Guardians were on to them, they might want to cover their tracks so they didn’t get caught. It was enough to make him feel sick. ‘ _Nothing is going to happen to Pitch’._ He thought to himself. ‘ _Not if I can stop it.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next...Halloween!


	10. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack decides that the pole really needs to host a costume party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What an adventure this has been! I moved halfway across the country to find out that it is COLD up here, and its' going to be a few weeks till they can come and lay down internet lines. So here I am, in McDonald's so that I can get y'all this chapter! I'm testing out my new speech-to-text software, so if y'all see something wonky, hit me up so I can fix it!

Jack was at the Bennett’s house, this time with Pitch in tow. They had several play dates before this one, and Pitch had been fascinated with watching the TV. Sophie watched lots of princess shows, and Jack blamed his current predicament entirely on her. he was seated at a tiny pink and white table pretending to drink tea out of a plastic teacup with a cartoon character emblazoned on it. Sophie was dressed in a yellow ball gown that was a size too small, but clearly well loved. Jamie was digging through the chest of clothes in their playroom, looking for something for Pitch. The toddler was currently picking through the pieces that Sophie had discarded and pushing them on Jack.

The plastic silver tiara had been one thing, but then he insisted that Jack wear the matching “emerald” clip-on earrings and a fake pearl necklace. At that point, Jack decided that if he was going to be a fake princess, he was going to be the best fake princess ever. He didn’t even bat an eye when Sophie brought out her kit of play makeup, though from Jamie’s reaction, he had little doubt that he looked more like a clown than a pretty princess.

Jamie finally found what he was looking for – a rubber toy sword, which he gave to Pitch. “Okay, Pitch. You’re the Honorable Knight, here to protect the “Lovely Ladies.”

Jack looked up from where he had been applying Sophie’s makeup with a tad bit more skill than she had done his. “You sayin’ I’m not a pretty princess?” Jack postured as he fluffed the sparkly pink tutu that he had somehow managed to fit into.

Jamie laughed. “Don’t quit your day job.”

Jack pouted. “Don’t listen to him, Sophie. We look good.”

“Yeah!” Sophie exclaimed. “We’re pretty.”

Jamie turned his attention to Pitch, who was chewing on the tip of his sword.”

“That’s now how you use it.” He said to Pitch. He pulled out his own sword, a plastic light saber, and demonstrated how to slice and hack. “See, when the bad guys come, you fight them off.

“Fight!” Pitch said as he swung his sword around.

“Yeah!” Jamie said he adjusted his cap. “Now the lovely princesses, Jack and Sophie are having tea, with the valiant knight Pitch, who is protecting them.” He waved his hands around as he set the scene up.

Jack took that as his cue to pour Sophie another cup of ‘tea’. “This tea is quite wonderful, Princess. More cookies?”

“Cookie?” Pitch asked, sword forgotten.

“They’re pretend cookies.” Jack said to Pitch. “Cause we’re playing pretend.” He held the plastic toy cookies up for Pitch to inspect.

“Oh.” The toddler frowned and turned his attention back to his sword.

“Suddenly, the dread Jedi Pirate, Jamie Bennett attacks!” Jamie said as he jumped over to them, Light Saber glowing fluorescent green.

“Ah!” Sophie squealed.

“I’m here to steal your jewels, Princesses!” Jamie said as he brandished his sword at them.

“Save us, Pitch!” Jack cried dramatically in falsetto.

Pitch stormed in front of Jamie and held up a finger at him. “Bad.”

Jamie laughed evilly. “You don’t scare me, Sir Knight! I will defeat you and steal the jewels. No one can stop me!”

He raised his sword up to Pitch, who let go of his own sword to reach up and tug on Jamie’s hand, he led him a few steps.

“Where are you taking me? Do you think you can defeat me so easily.

“ Bad! No-no.” He pointed to the corner. “You go time-out.”

Jamie shot Jack a questioning look, and Jack shrugged in response as he struggled to hold in his laughter.

Jamie rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. “Oh no. I’ve been defeated by the power of time out.” He said as he stomped over to the corner and flopped onto the floor.

Jack lost it, and rolled out of his seat, shaking with laughter when Pitch walked back up to the table. “Cookie.” He said, hand outstretched.

Sophie plucked a plastic cookie out of the tray on the center of the table and dropped it in the toddler’s waiting hands. The boy nodded his approval and picked his sword up again.

Jack collected himself enough to slide back into the tiny chair. Jamie poked his head up off of the floor. “Can I come out now?”

Pitch shook his head. “Say sowiee.”

Jamie hopped up and walked over to the table. “I’m so sorry m’ladies. I have changed my ways and won’t bother you again.”

Pitch shook his head and tugged on Jamie’s pant leg. “Cookie.” He said as he passed the plastic treat to the older boy.

Jamie stared at it for a few moments before looking at Jack. “Just what exactly have you been teaching him?”

“Positive reinforcement by way of cookie?” Jack shrugged.

Jamie snorted. “The Boogieman just put me in timeout.”

“You got a cookie.” Sophie said as if that made everything better.

“It’s like Halloween. I put on a costume and get a treat.” Jamie tossed the toy back onto the table.

“Halloween!” Sophie squealed as she ran from the table.

“It’s getting to be that time again, huh?” Jack said.

“Yup! Mom’s working on our costumes. I’m going to be a ninja.”

“And what about you, Soph?”

“Robot Princess!” She squealed as she dug through a container of coloring books

Jack raised an eyebrow and Jamie shrugged.

“What about you guys. Do Guardians celebrate Halloween? Or do you guys just do your own?”

Jack drummed his fingers on the edge of his staff. “Well, mostly everyone just does their own thing, but I don’t have a holiday. I have a season, so I suppose I could do something.”

Jamie chewed on his lip. “What about Pitch? Is Halloween his holiday? Do you think anything will happen?”

“Well, there is a lot about Pitch that I don’t know. He was around a lot longer than I was. But I’m pretty sure Halloween isn’t his holiday, though he might have liked the ‘scary’ parts.”

“Scary? Halloween is fun! I love picking out a costume, and all the games, it’s awesome!”

Jack laughed. “True, but there’s all those haunted houses and scary movies.”

Jamie shrugged. “Not when you’re a kid. I always loved Halloween since I was little. But you’ll keep an eye on him, right? Just in case?”

Jack ruffled Jamie’s hair. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve got everything under control.”

“But what if he gets all his powers back?”

Jack shrugged, “We beat him once, we can do it again if we have to.”

Jack and Jamie glanced over at the table where Pitch and Sophie had moved on to coloring, markers spread out everywhere. Great, that was going to be fun to clean up. About as fun as removing all of this makeup was going to be.

“When you beat him, did you ever think you’d wind up here? Playing dress-up with Pitch Black in my play room?

Jack shook his head. “Not in my wildest dreams. But it’s not so bad. I’m  glad that I found him.” He paused. “Hey, Jamie. I have a question. Remember when we beat him? You stopped seeing him after that.”

“Yeah.” Jamie shuffled.

“So why could you see him when I first brought him here? It’s been bugging me.”

Jamie rubbed his hands over his face. “It’s not that I didn’t trust you guys, but over time, it got a little scary knowing that he was out there, maybe planning his revenge. I caused a lot of problems for him last time.”

“Jamie…”

The boy shrugged. “I was still kind of scared, even after I saw him like that.” He said, waving a hand at the table. “Scared of what he could do. Sophie sees him, because if you see him, and I see him, then he must be there. She isn’t scared of him. I don’t think she understands who he is.”

Jack paused. “I guess a little fear isn’t too bad, but you now we’d never let anything happen to you Jamie.”

“Yeah. It’s not just me I’m worried about.” Jamie glanced at him meaningfully. “Now, do you want to see our costumes? Mom’s almost finished.”

“Sure, kiddo.” He said, choosing to ignore the obvious topic change. “Why not?”

\----

That evening at the pole, Jack posed a question to North. They were sitting in the study, winding down after a hectic day. The fire was warm and soothing, lulling everyone into a content state.

“A party? You want to have a party, here at the pole?”

“Not just any party, a costume party. You know, for Halloween.”

Jack felt North’s resolve hardening, and he scrambled to think. “It would be small, just us Guardians.”

“We do not usually celebrate Halloween.” North said pointedly as he looked at Pitch.

“It won’t be scary at all! We’ll just wear silly costumes and play games. It doesn’t feel right not to do something. If it’s a big deal, I can find someplace else to do it, but I figured, here, we can keep an eye out in case something goes wrong.

North hesitated. “Is awful close to Christmas. I am not sure is such a good idea, Jack.”

“I’ll do all the work! We won’t bother the Yetis or get in the way! All I need is a room.”

“Well…”

“Please, please, please! It’ll be fun! And you won’t have to do anything but enjoy the results on the 31st.” Jack turned wide blue eyes on him. He could feel North wavering.

“You will do everything?”

Jack nodded.

North let out a long suffering sigh. “As long as you do not bother the Yetis, then I guess the Guardians are having a costume party.”

“Yes!” Jack exclaimed as he shot up in the air. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He said as he enveloped the older Guardian in a tight hug.

North laughed and patted him on the back. “Why do you want to do this so much?”

Jack shrugged. “I’ve never done Halloween before, but it falls under my territory. People forget, I’m not just winter, I have autumn too. Halloween always looked like fun. You get to put on a costume and run around town having fun. Yeah, some of it may be scary, but at the end of the night, everyone gets home safe and eats tons of junk!”

 “I see.” North gave him a meaningful look. “Well, let’s try to keep the scary to a minimum. We don’t know how fear will affect the little one.”

Jack let the thought sink in. “That’s probably for the best. Light on the scaring, heavy on the fun. Can do!” Jack ruffled Pitch’s hair. “Ya hear that, Peaches? Halloween is a go!

Jack scratched at his chin. He had two weeks to plan a party, make costumes and make sure that the holiday didn’t pull some kind of voodoo magic leaving them vulnerable to attack by a suddenly powerful Pitch, or at least put precautions in place. Look at him, thinking ahead. Wouldn’t Bunny be pleased? Now time to plan some party games, invite the Guardians, and somehow get Pitch into a costume. No big deal.

The next couple weeks went by in a whirlwind of activity. For one, Jack didn’t realize just how much was involved with throwing a party, or just how hard it would be when you couldn’t go out and buy supplies. He had to make everything by hand. Decorations weren’t that hard. It was easy to cut out colored construction paper to make bats, pumpkins, ghosts and spiders. They would be finding colored glitter for years, but the end result was worth it. Planning out games to play was more difficult, but with a few runs to the Bennett’s, and with some advice from other spirits along the way, he managed to pull together some good ideas. His party was turning more into a fall festival than a Halloween soirée, but he didn’t mind too much.

The hardest part was making the costumes. He spent days suggesting Ideas to Pitch, all of them met with blunt ‘no’s’. He was just about to give up when Pitch finally agreed on a costume. Then after that he realized that he had _no_ idea how to actually make it. This resulted in many hours wasted on an old sewing machine before one of the Yetis took pity on him and showed him how to use it. He would never be great at using it, and his costumes would never win any awards, but he was pretty proud of himself. Everything was coming along. The elves had gotten caught up in the festivities as well. They helped paint light bulbs orange and black and make decorations. Some of them even made little elf costumes.

Before Jack knew it, it was the day before the party. They spent the entire day decorating. They made snow decorations for the yard; ghosts, pumpkins and such. Scattered around the workshop leading to the party room, there were actual carved pumpkins (What an experience that had been. It turns out that pumpkins are cold, stringy, and sticky. Pumpkin guts are also really hard to get out of toddler hair.). The pumpkins weren’t lit with actual candles, but with a special magical candle that North had created. These ones were safe around children. Pitch loved the frantic dash to get things ready. Any excuse to get messy was fine with him. He was always dirty by the end of the day, but now it was even worse.

They had so much fun leading up to the party, that the day of seemed almost boring. The elves occupied themselves making waaaay too many cookies and treats, and scattered them all over the workshop. Jack spent a couple hours setting up games and making sure that everything was running smoothly. After that, there wasn’t much left for him to do. He and Pitch had lunch, and then he spent the next couple hours keeping Pitch from getting into the party games. He got a good hours worth of distraction getting the two of them into their costumes. Then he spent the next 30 minutes trying to keep Pitch _in_ his costume. It was a relief when the doorbell finally rang.

“Wanna come with me to answer the door?” He asked Pitch.

“Yeah!”

As they walked down to the door, Jack wondered why one of the Guardians was ringing the door bell. Typically they just came right in.

“Happy Halloween!” Jack said as he swung the door open. His greeting died on his lips when he saw a cluster of very costumed, very much _not_ Guardians standing on his doorstep.

“Uh.”

“I hope we’re not early!” A fairy spoke up.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find this place. Next time, some signs might help.” A clown said as it pushed its way inside.

“Which way is the party?”  A ghost asked as it closed the door. “Oh wait, I’ll just follow the signs.”

“Oh, now there are signs.” The clown grumbled as it walked down the hallway, the other two following.

Jack was about to protest when he heard the doorbell ring again. Maybe this time it would be his friends. With trepidation, he swung the door open again.

“Happy Halloween!” He smiled, only to be met with another group of not-guardians. North was going to kill him.

\- - - -

Jack scurried from one side of the room to the other, Pitch in tow. North was standing near the punch bowl sporting the most generic Christmasy Santa outfit Jack had ever seen. He even had an amused twinkle in his eyes.

“Small party?” He said to Jack with a chuckle.

Jack tugged on the ends of his hair. “People! Where do they keep coming from?”

North bellowed a laugh. “I thought this would happen. Word travels fast.”

Jack watched another costumed group enter the room. He was pretty sure the pirate was the Leprechaun. How did these people even find out about the party?

“We are going to need more cookies!” North bellowed. The toymaker waved when he spotted a costumed Tooth.

Jack sighed and went off to find an elf to bring out more treats from the kitchen. Good thing the elves had been so jealous about making extras. He was on his way back from the kitchen sporting a tray of caramel popcorn balls when his path was intercepted. Two “young” spirits crowded around him. They were similar in appearance, both seemed around 10 years old, had orange hair, and bright yellow eyes. They dressed in varying black rags. They were siblings, and the spirits of Halloween.

“Trick, Treat. How are you guys?” They scowled at his greeting, and Jack felt his grin shrink.

“I hope you aren’t getting ideas, Guardian.” Trick said.

“Halloween is _our_ holiday.”

“What gives you the right…”

“…To host such a party?”

“Isn’t what you do enough…?”

“Do you want our day too?”

Jack backed up a step. “Whoa guys, I’m not trying to steal anyone’s holiday. It wasn’t even supposed to be this big. It kind of got out of control.”

The twins continued to scowl, clearly not happy about being upstaged.

“Jack!” Pitch whined from behind him, tired of being ignored.

The twins swarmed over to Pitch.

“We wondered why we hadn’t heard from you…”

“…Now things make sense.”

They looked at Jack and spoke in unison. “Some things.

“Since he is here…”

“…We’ll let it slide.”

Treat slung an arm around her brother’s neck and glanced down at the miniaturized Boogieman. “Next time come to us.”

“We throw a scarier party than the Guardians ever could.

“No offense.” She said to Jack.

“None taken.” He said, sensing an out. “Well we really need to get these out. And you guys probably have lots to do tonight as well.”

“Yes.” They said simultaneously.

“Alright then. You guys have a Happy Halloween.” He said as he edged away.

The twins watched him in silence, then flickered away, the glowing eyes being the last thing to disappear.

Jack shook his head as he watched the twins melt into thin air. “Man, you have got some creepy allies.” He said to Pitch. “I’m surprised they didn’t notice something was wrong.” Then again, maybe they did. Word was bound to get out. If the twins had recognized him in seconds, others would too. And they would notice that the boy was not acting very Pitch-like.

Jack set the tray down on one of the tables and turned to Pitch. “Where’s your helmet?”

“Here!” Tooth said, appearing out of nowhere. “No astronaut is complete without their helmet.”

“Jeez, Tooth.” Jack said as he rubbed his chest. “I think you gave me a heart attack.”

She adjusted Pitch’s helmet. “Sorry.” She smiled at him and rubbed his back sympathetically. “Did I see Trick and Treat earlier?”

“Yeah. They weren’t pleased with me hosting a Halloween party, but we worked something out.”

“That’s good.” Tooth fiddled with her headgear, having gone as a dentist. “I’ve been trying to talk to you all evening, you’ve been running everywhere.”

“I’m glad that I don’t have to do this stuff all the time. I think I’ll stick to my thing after this.”

Tooth laughed. “Your thing is not sewing, that’s for sure. What exactly are you supposed to be?”

“Hey!” Jack exclaimed as he adjusted my beard. “I’m old man winter, cause in some places, they think I’m an old man.”

Tooth huffed out a laugh. “I thought you were supposed to be North.”

“I would need a whole lot more padding if I wanted to be North!”

“True.” She glanced down at the treat covered table with a frown. She plucked a caramel apple up and stared at it remorsefully. “I have to say, apart from the scaring, the things people eat on Halloween are my least favorite thing about this holiday.”

“You say that about every holiday, but everyone else seems to enjoy themselves.”

“Speaking of everyone else, I didn’t realize that a small party included this many people. This is a pretty wild shindig that you’re hosting.”

Jack groaned. “I don’t even know what happened. Word must have gotten around.”

Tooth set the apple back down. “You may as well make the most of it. Everyone’s here, and on the bright side, no one’s drunk. You should have seen some of the Christmas parties that North used to have.”

“Wait…We can get drunk? How does that even work?”

She leveled an even look at him. “The moon gave you magical powers and you want to know how alcohol affects us?”  She tittered as she bent down to Pitch’s level. “Hey, Peaches, what do you say we go play some games while Jack ponders the science of being a magical creature?”

“Play!” Pitch clapped excitedly.

“Hey!” Jack exclaimed, placing a hand over his heart. “Bunch of traitors. You wound me.”

Tooth grinned up at him. “Go, have fun being the hostess. I’ll keep the little bit occupied.” She hoisted Pitch up. “Say bye, Pitch.”

“Bye, Pitch.” The boy echoed and waved as Tooth led him away.

Jack scoffed. Hosting. Right. He could do this.

 ----

An hour and a half later led to several revelations. One, for spirits that didn’t require food to sustain them, they sure ate a whole lot. Two, some of these people _clearly_ needed to get out more. And Three, while Jack was a fun guy who smiled all the time, this was the first time that he had ever had to plaster a fake smile on his face. Being a host was boring, and stressful. At least Pitch was having a good time with North and Tooth.

Bunny had shown up some time ago, but instead of joining the Guardians, he seemed content to mingle. He sent a few glares the groundhog’s way, but made no hostile displays toward their resident nightmare. Jack was pleasantly surprised. This was the first time he had seen Bunny since he got sick. He politely slipped away from his conversation and made his way over to the Pooka.

“Bunny.”

“Frost. Interesting outfit.” He said, giving Jack a one-over.

“It’s called a costume. Something I notice that you _didn’t_ wear.”

“I’m here to keep an eye on things. Not to play dress up.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh. Party pooper.”

Bunny rolled his eyes in return. “I can’t believe North even let you do this.”

“Calm down, Cottontail, it’s just a party.”

Bunny’s ears twitched. You don’t even realize why this is a problem.”

“The only problem I see here is yours.”

Bunny glanced around the room. “You don’t want to have this conversation in here. Trust me.”

Jack frowned. “Fine, why don’t we go somewhere else?”

Bunny huffed. “Lead the way.”

Jack hesitated, not expecting Bunny to actually take him up on his offer, but he recovered quickly enough. He led the way out of the room. The yetis were on patrol, making sure that no one got into places they shouldn’t be. Jack greeted a pair of them as he slipped by, missing the worried glances they shot over his head as Bunny followed him.

They were relatively alone in the workshop, though several Yetis and elves still roamed about working on Christmas things.

“Is this okay?”

Bunny frowned at him. “Good enough.”

Jack sighed. “What’s your problem?”

“The problem is that as far as everyone in that room, let alone the world, is concerned, the Guardians just endorsed Halloween.

Jack stared up at the Pooka. “But it’s just a party.”

“Here?  At the pole? With all those spirits here? With the Guardians running the show? It’s ‘not just a party.’ You are a Guardian. Everything you do has consequences.”

Jack was taken aback. “I didn’t realize.”

“You may not have, but North should have known better. Unless a new Guardian is called, we try to remain neutral as far as holidays go. We’ll be hearing for years now about how the Guardians played favorites, or how the Guardians threw so-and-so a party, so they should get one too. What a mess.”

Jack sighed and felt himself deflate. “I thought you be upset about Pitch. It never occurred to me that I’d make such a big mess out of things. I should have known.” Jack shuffled his staff around and looked downwards.

He said it with such a note of finality that Bunny scrambled to say anything to wipe that look off of his face. Jack frost was supposed to be the embodiment of fun. Depressed did not suit him.

“Well, now you know. Don’t let it happen again.” Jack flushed, and Bunny softly added “But there’s no sense in letting a good party go to waste. Cheer up, mate.”

Jack looked up at him, wide eyed. “Seriously?”

Bunny shrugged. “You put a lot of work into this. We may as well enjoy it.”

At that moment, North burst into the room, ready to separate the two by force if need be. He seemed surprised to see that Bunny and Jack were not actually arguing, but were instead talking amicably.

“Oh.” He said as Jack and Bunny glanced at him strangely. “I was just… but I see that you are not. So I shall just go now.”

“We were finished, right, mate?”  Bunny said.

“Yeah, we’re good.”

Jack sent North a smile, then left the room. 

North gave Bunny a questioning look.

“What?”

\----

Back at the party, Jack finally managed to relax. Sandy had joined in the festivities while they were gone, and with his ever shifting sand costumes, he was the life of the party.  With his helmet down, Pitch seemed just like any other person, and seldom got a second glance. Trick and Treat even came back for a while. Much food was consumed and by the end of the night all of the games have been played multiple times, and they even had an impromptu costume contest. The party wound down after a couple of hours, by then Pitch was falling asleep. North put Pitch to bed while Jack gave party favors out to the guests and sent them on their way. Once everyone was gone the Guardians finally had a moment to themselves.

“You did excellent. It reminds me of the good old days.” North said in a reminiscent tone.

Tooth got a worried look in her eyes.  “Oh no.  Here we go again.”

Jack laughed.  “As long as I don’t have to plan that one, I’m all up for a Christmas party.”

Bunny rolled his eyes.  “I’m still recovering from the last party.”

“It was 40 years ago.” North protested.

“There’s a reason I don’t drink eggnog anymore.” Tooth said with a rueful grin.

Sandy shrugged and pantomimed drinking a glass of eggnog.

“Sandy still likes it.”

“That’s because Sandy was smart enough not to drink his body weight in eggnog.”

Jack smiled. The party had been successful, no one had said anything about Pitch, he and Bunny had not fought the entire evening, and there were no signs that the holiday had affected the toddler. It was nice. Things seem to be going smoothly for once. He just hoped it would last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said earlier, I don't have any internet, but rest assured, that means less time for distractions, and more time for writing.   
> Oh, when I said it was really cold here, I wasn't lying. This Louisiana girl is going to freeze to death up here!


	11. Merry Christmas to All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It turns out, Christmas miracles do exist. And sometimes they have cream cheese frosting on them.

After Halloween, things became very hectic. North went into overdrive – “Only two month’s till Christmas!” He had less time to spend with Jack and Pitch- though with how busy they were, they didn’t have much time to notice. With North being indisposed, and Jack having to spend most of his day occupied spreading Winter, there wasn’t a whole lot for Pitch to do. He wasn't pleased about being left behind with the yetis when Jack would go.

As it got closer to Christmas, Jack realized that he was going to have to find a new solution. All of the yetis were needed to work on Christmas presents, and the elves were in no way responsible enough to handle a toddler. Plus, several of them were still emotionally scarred from being Pitch Chew Toys. He contemplated having one of the other Guardians watch him. Bunny was out, for sure. He wasn't overly hostile anymore, but he definitely wasn't going to go out of his way to do Jack any favors. Tooth and Sandy were more amiable, but they were just as busy as North. There was no way he could burden them with the high maintenance child.

The solution came to him one afternoon as he was flying over Eastern Russia. Why not bring Pitch with him? The boy loved flying and spending time with Jack. It was perfect! He flew back to the Pole as quick as he could and went straight to work figuring out the logistics of spending hours flying with a two year old and doing his job. After several interesting trips, he finally settled on a harness much like the ones that he sometimes saw parents wearing with young children. Pitch was a bit big for that, and it took a while for him to adjust to the different center of gravity that the harness created. It was worth it though, to see how happy it made Pitch.

Every morning after breakfast, Jack would bundle Pitch up in warm clothes, complete with tiny little boots, mittens, a scarf, and a big puffy hat. In the end, the toddler was left with just part of his face peeking out, and the sight of Pitch learning to move in all of his new layers never failed to make Jack laugh. Then after Pitch was in his harness, they'd set off flying. He never had a destination in mind, The wind always took him where he was needed. They'd spend hours playing in the snow. Sometimes they would go back to the Pole for lunch. Other times, Jack would pack a picnic, and they would eat on the go. At the end of the day, Pitch was always exhausted, and after dinner and his bath, Jack would have no trouble getting the toddler to lay down for the night.

The children they played with thought it was funny to see their Guardian hauling an empty harness around, but it didn't take long for there to be unexpected consequences. Honestly, he should have expected this to happen. By taking Pitch out and playing with him, the children he played with realized that there was someone there that they were not seeing. If Jack was talking to someone, then they had to be real. And so they believed that there was a person there. This worried him a little, but because no one believed Pitch was the boogieman, their belief seemed to do nothing but make him visible.

There were times when he would sit back and watch Pitch playing. Sometimes he thought he could see bits and pieces of the old Pitch. They were all little things. Like the way his lips would curl before he poured a handful of snow down someone's shirt, or the way he would sulk dramatically when he was ignored. He almost brought it up to North, but every time he saw the older Guardian, he always looked tired. The last thing he wanted to do was stress him out any more than he already was. So he kept it to himself. If he saw anything more definite, then he'd bring it up. Perhaps Pitch's personality had always been this way. He didn't want to set the Guardians on the defensive for no reason.

The children they played with had accepted Pitch, though they did not know who he was. They all called him Peaches, like Jack. It was interesting to see Pitch playing with other children, though most of them were “older” than him. They treated him like one of their younger siblings – doing things like picking him up and teasing him. The children in Burgess were different, mainly because Jack avoided bringing Pitch there. He was worried that they might recognize Pitch, and he knew nothing good would come of that. His visits there were always brief, and more often than not, if he saw them, he would simply wave as he flew over.

-

One morning, as he hurried after Pitch, something caught him off guard. Normally, he would have to distract Pitch from bothering the elves that tended to wander the halls. Today though, there didn't seem to be a single other being at the pole. He swooped Pitch up just as they reached the table.

“What do you want for – North!” Jack exclaimed as he saw the man sitting at the table. Breakfast had been laid out on the table, and North had already helped himself. “What are you doing here?”

North let out a booming laugh. “I do live here.”

Jack flushed. “No. I mean, yes. You do. Live here. ” He said as he set Pitch in his chair.

“Norf! Norf!” Pitch exclaimed as he banged his hands on the table.

“Good Morning, Little One.” North smiled. “At least someone is happy to see me.”

Jack winced. “That didn't come out right. It's just that, you're usually busy in the morning. It's nice that you got a break to come eat with us.” Jack fixed Pitch's plate before getting his own and sitting down awkwardly.

“I am teasing you, Jack Frost.” He laughed. “I am not taking a break.” He explained as he stroked his beard. “We are finished with the presents.”

“Really?” He exclaimed in shock. “I didn't know that it was possible!”

“We had better be finished. Today is Christmas Eve.”

Jack gaped. “No way! Where has all of the time gone?”

“We have both been very busy. Time goes by so quickly.” North lamented. “Come now, tell me what has been happening? What have I missed.”

“No!” Pitch squealed.

North raised an eyebrow. Jack shrugged in response.

“No?” He repeated

“No day.” Pitch said solemnly.

“No day....?” Jack repeated in confusion. “Oh, duh! Snow Day!” He turned to North. “I've been taking Pitch out with me lately. He likes the snow.”

“Is that what you are planning on doing again today?”

“I guess so? Since it's Christmas Eve, you'll probably want us out of your hair.”

North frowned. “You are not in hair. I am afraid I have been ignoring you two.”

“Oh.” Jack brushed him off. “Not really. You've been really busy. It is Christmas after all. And it's not like we haven't been busy either.”

“True.” North said, but he didn't look happy about it.

“What about you? Lots of last minute stuff to be done I imagine.”

“Yes.” North said distractedly.

Jack turned his attention to Pitch. “Guess what tomorrow is? It's Christmas!”  
Pitch stared back at him.

“I guess you have no idea what that is.” Jack laughed at himself. “North is Santa. He spends the whole year seeing who has been naughty and who has been nice. On Christmas, Santa brings presents to all the children who have been good.”

“Pwesents?”

“Yup. Did you know I used to hold the record for being the naughtiest kid out there?” Jack laughed.

“No!”

“Yep. Some people just have no sense of humor. Am I right, North?”

“Hm? Oh, yes.”

Jack frowned. “You must really have a lot on your mind. If you need to get back to work, we won't mind.”

“I do have some things that need doing.”

“Well get to 'em!” He smiled. “Christmas doesn't just run itself.”  
North stood.

“Oh hey, in case we don't see you.” Jack called before he could leave, “Good luck delivering all those gifts.”

The older Guardian smiled at him. “Thank you, Jack.”

After breakfast Jack decided to take Pitch sight seeing, or rather, light seeing. He had always enjoyed the way Christmas lights looked when they were frosted, and he was sure that the twinkling lights would be right up Pitch's alley.

He was right, Pitch did enjoy the lights. But he miscalculated how long they would keep him amused. He managed to drag the light show out for another hour before he decided to head back to the Pole. They had an early lunch, and then he decided that the best way to keep Pitch out of everyone's way was to distract him with his toys. It had been a while since they'd spent much time playing with them, due to all the time they had spent outdoors. That meant that he could probably keep Pitch busy for a couple more hours. By then, North would probably be getting ready to leave.

He was watching Pitch build pyramids with his blocks when inspiration hit him.

“Hey, Peaches.” He called to get his attention. “What do you say we surprise North?”

“Supwise?”

“Yeah!” He said. “We'll decorate! I can't believe we didn't do it before. This is the North pole, and we don't even have a Christmas tree!”

Jack picked Pitch up and swung him around. “It's time we had some holiday spirit up here!”  
Pitch squealed when Jack darted into the air.

“Let's go find us some decorations.”

Locating said decorations was easier said than done. Jack didn't want to ask any of the yetis in case they said anything to North. In the end, he had to enlist the help of several elves, and they managed to find several cases of ornaments and lights. Together, they wrangled the decorations into the study, all the while, Jack was trying to figure out where he was going to get a tree to decorate.

The conundrum was taken out of his hands when what must have been every elf at the pole appeared, carrying a giant tree over their heads.

Jack stared at them, bewildered. “I want to ask where that came from, but quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to know.

“Alrighty. I don't know where the elves got it, but there is a real, live tree over there that we are about to Christmasafy.”

“Rismisfie” Pitch shouted as he ruffled through the boxes with Jack. The elves darted to and fro, swirling lights and tinsel around the tree. More often than not, they ended in tangled messes. They seemed to be having fun, though, and Jack didn't have the heart to send them away. After all, they had been the ones to find the tree. If they wanted to help decorate, well, it was less work for him to do.

“That's a good one!” He said in response to the ornament Pitch held out for him to inspect. Do you wanna put it on the tree?”

“Yeah!”

“Ok. Be really careful. If you drop it, then it will break.”

“Kay.”

By the time they were finished decorating the tree, North had already left. They had taken a break to send North off, and then had eaten dinner. Now it was dark, and Pitch was practically asleep on his feet. The half of the elves were passed out under the tree, covered in bits of glitter and tinsel, the other half had long since disappeared. Probably off somewhere getting into trouble.

Jack took a moment to admire their work. The tree might have been a little ornament heavy on the bottom, due to Pitch's insistence that he be allowed to put up every ornament he could get his hands on. Though, Jack had tried his best to even them out when Pitch wasn't paying attention.

“Alright, Kiddo. We just have one thing left. We have to put the star on top!” He held the golden star out for Pitch, then bent down and wrapped an arm around his waist. Together, they managed to wrangle the topper into place.

“That's the best looking tree I've ever seen, if I do say so myself.” Jack declared as they landed on the ground.

“Uh-huh.” Pitch agreed.

“Usually, kids leave out milk and cookies for Santa, but I think that North has probably had his fill of those tonight. What do you think?”

“Cookie?”

“Whoops. I said the magic word.” Jack tapped on his staff thoughtfully. “Well, I guess it is Christmas Eve. It seems wrong to mess with a tradition. But we have to save some for Santa, okay?”

Once Pitch swore not to eat himself into a sugar coma, Jack fixed up a plate of cookies and left them on the table, then gave one to Pitch.

“Are you ready to go to sleep?” He asked once they were finished with their desert.

“Not sleepy!” The usual response came.

“Sure you're not. Well, if you want, since it's Christmas Eve, you can try to stay up and wait for Santa. Do you want to do that?”

“Yes!”

Pitch stared at the door, as if expecting North to come through at any moment. Jack settled into one of the chairs. He knew it was only a matter of time until Pitch fell asleep. The boy climbed into Jack's lap and let out a giant yawn.

“Not sleepy, huh?” Jack muttered when he felt Pitch slump against him. He gently stood and flew down the hall to their bedrooms. With practiced ease, he changed Pitch into his pajamas; a black onesie, before setting him down in his crib.

“Sweet dreams.” He whispered as he ducked out of the room.

-

Excitement was in the air. Jack could barely hold still. It was CHRISTMAS. Christmas was a big deal at the pole, for obvious reasons. And this was the first time that Jack had been here for the actual day. For once, Pitch was actually still asleep, dried drool crusted on his cheek. Dream sand flowed above his head. It was apparent that last night had tired the boy out greatly. He leaned over the edge of the crib, and brushed Pitch's hair back. Would this be Pitch's first actual Christmas? He wasn't sure. Regardless he wanted it to be a good one. He pulled his hand back, slid out of the room quietly.

The Pole was quiet, and as Jack flew through the workshop, he didn't run into a single being. It was almost eerie. No doubt everyone was exhausted from the last minute dash that happened every Christmas eve. Now everyone seemed to be enjoying their yearly day of rest.

This was North's big holiday, and as the morning wore on, the children's renewed belief strengthened the magic around North's workshop. And yet, Jack Frost seemed to be the only being awake to enjoy the effects.

After he grew bored, he went into the kitchen to get breakfast started. Christmas was a good reason to be bad for breakfast. He decided on cinnamon rolls, as North, no doubt had had enough milk and cookies to last for a lifetime, or at least another year. After a moment's hesitation, he grabbed an apron off the hook by the wall, this was bound to end messily.

Making breakfast distracted him for a good bit of time, and when he had just finished sliding the warm gooey pastries out of the oven, North was pulling the door to kitchen open. Pitch sat on his hip, looking for all the world like he had decided to made North into his new bed. The boy yawned widely and blinked up at Jack.

"Merry Christmas!" North boomed.

"Merry Christmas!" Jack replied with a smile. "You guys want breakfast?" He asked as he brandished the tray at them. "I promise it's not cookies."

"It smells very good. Who would have thought that you'd turn out to be such a good cook?" North said as he laughed.

"Yeah, Yeah, laugh it up. I look good in this apron." Jack retorted as he cocked his hip out. "Now come on, breakfast is getting cold."

After the cinnamon rolls had been divided up between the three of them, they convened to the dining room to eat. Jack chopped up Pitch's roll into small cubes, and drizzled them with green sugar glaze before he turned his attention to his own plate.

"Is very Christmasy." North said as he indicated the pitcher of glaze.

"Hey, tis the season." Jack said with a smile.

North tipped his cup of eggnog at him, and knocked back his drink.

"So what are your plans for the day? Rest and recover for next year?" Jack asked.

North tilted his head sideways. "Of course not. Is Christmas. We have Christmas. We have big day planned for us."

"Really?" Jack asked his bit into his own roll. "I figured that you'd be too tired to do much of anything today." He said after he swallowed.

"Of course not." He looked at Jack in confusion. "You are guests in my home. You think I would forget to have Christmas for you two as well?"

Jack tilted his head down. "No, it's just, this is all new to me. It's been a long time since I've celebrated Christmas.”

“Not any more.” North proclaimed as he wagged a finger. “You are welcome here every Christmas.”

Jack flushed. “Thanks.”

“Now, eat.”

After they finished their breakfast and had cleaned up the mess, North lead them down the hallway to the study. He winked at Jack as he pushed the door open.

Jack gaped. North had certainly gone all out. There were so many presents piled under the tree that they spilled out from the sides, and a giant, elaborate train track had been set up throughout the room. Pitch was mesmerized by the sight of the train chugging along the track.

North laughed at their reactions. “Ah. I miss this. I do not get to see this anymore.” He clasped Jack's shoulder, and ushered them into the room.

“North...” Jack protested.

“Ah, ah, ah. It's Christmas. Go on.” He shooed them towards the tree, and took his usual seat.  
Jack swooped down to pick Pitch up and swung him over his head. “Hey, Peaches. What do you know. We made it off of the naughty list!” He glanced down. “And it looks like this present has your name on it!”

He knelt down on the floor and set Pitch down. “Go on, see what Santa brought.”

Jack laughed as Pitch tore open his presents, seeming to enjoy ripping the paper off almost as much as he enjoyed the toys and clothes that they revealed. Jack opened his presents with slightly less reckless abandon, but no less glee. It had been over 300 years since he had gotten a Christmas present, and he treated each one like it was made of gold. is presents included things like brain teasers, books, and even a thick glass snowflake roughly the size of his hand that had so much detail, he almost thought it was real. He wasn't sure what his favorite gift was, a light blue scarf made out of the softest material he had ever felt, or a pair of supple brown-leather fingerless gloves.

The teen darted over to North and enveloped him in a tight hug. “This is the best Christmas ever!” He laughed. “But really, you didn't have to do all of this.”

North returned the hug. “I wanted to.”

Jack pulled away and shuffled his feet. “Well, it's just. We don't really have much to give you in return. I mean, we made something for you, but it's nowhere near enough for all of this.” Jack waved his hand around the room.

North shook his head. “I was not expecting gifts in return. I did this because I wanted to.”

“I... Wait here. I need to go get your present.” He said after a moment.

He shot off before the older Guardian could respond.

When Jack returned, North was on the floor, playing with Pitch.

“Here you go.” He said, holding out a clumsily wrapped package. “It's harder than it looks.” Jack explained. “Plus, Pitch wanted to help.”

North laughed. “I think it looks perfect.” He made a show of carefully unwrapping the garish green and red wrapping paper. The package was revealed to be a red covered scrap book, which North took his time going through. Each of the pages had been decorated by either Jack or Pitch.

“It's a scrap book.” Jack said, stating the obvious. “Of things that we've done in the last seven months.”

North smiled fondly as he closed the book. “It is a marvelous present. Thank you, Jack, Pitch. I love it.” he tapped the cover of the book. “Seven months? My. Has it really been that long?”

Jack crinkled a piece of wrapping paper in his hands. “I know. I didn't mean to impose on you this long.”

North sighed. “Are we still having this conversation? You are not imposing. I like having you two here. It reminds me of a time, long, long ago.” His voice took on a reminiscent tone, but before

Jack could ask him about it, a familiar high pitched chirp caught his attention.

“Baby Tooth!” Jack whipped around.

Tooth stood in the door way, a fond smile on her face. “Merry Christmas, boys.” She said with a wave.

“Merry Christmas, Tooth!” Jack said as he stood up.

She fluttered into the room, giving each of them a hug. “I hope I'm not too early.”

“Early for what?” Jack asked.

Tooth raised an eyebrow. “You didn't tell him?”

North shrugged. “It was surprise.”

“Tell me what?”

Tooth smiled. “About dinner.”

“Huh?”

“I invited the Guardians to dinner. I figured we have proper feast.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“You hear that Peaches? A feast.”

Jack turned his attention to Pitch, and then promptly doubled over with laughter. The toddler had fallen asleep in a nest of wrapping paper, clutching a teddy bear.

“Oh, man. I wish I had a camera.”

“He is pretty cute.” Tooth admitted. “Let's let him sleep. The others should be here soon enough.”

“Everyone is coming?” Jack asked hopefully.

“Even Bunny.” North said as they slipped out of the room. “The Yetis have been cooking all night. They love a good feast.”

“So that's why it was so quiet in here today. I'm guessing the elves all snuck off to try and pinch a bite to eat.”

Tooth laughed. “Sometimes I wonder how you manage to stay sane, living in the middle of all of this craziness.

Jack shrugged. “At this point, I have come to accept that craziness is just the way my life works.”

Before long, Sandy showed up. Bunny was the last to show up. Jack was worried that things would be tense between them, after the disaster that was his Halloween party.

“Ah, good. Everyone is here. I will go check and see if dinner is ready.” North told them.

“While he's doing that, I guess I'll go wake Pitch up.” Jack said, looking for an out.

“Oh. I can do that.” Tooth said. She flew down the hallway, leaving Jack to stare at her in dismay.

Sandy glanced between the remaining Guardians, ready to separate them if need be.

“So...” Jack fiddled with his staff.

“You know what I don't understand?” Bunny asked.

“Er, no?”

“It's barely lunch time. Just because it's Christmas, dinner gets served at two?”

Jack snorted. “Yeah. I've never understood that either.”

And just like that, they were back to normal.

“Humans are weird.”

“Your face is weird.” He shot back. “Hey. Wait a second, kangaroo. Are you saying I'm weird?

“If the shoe fits...”

North walked back into the room. “Dinner is ready!” He announced. “Where is Tooth?”

“Right here!” She called, Pitch perched on her hip.

“Follow me!” North said, leading them down to the workshop. All of the tables that usually held toys had been cleared off, and instead were stacked high with varying treats. The elves and yetis mingled about, already working on devouring the food.

“Is the eggnog spiked?” Bunny muttered under his breath. “Because I do not want a repeat of last time. Once was enough, thank you.”

Jack snorted. “Can't hold your liquor?” Jack teased.

“You won't be laughing when North is running around shirtless singing in Russian.”

Jack turned to Tooth. “Is that a thing that actually happened?

“Well.” She drawled. “From what I remember, North wasn't the only one singing.”

Bunny glared at her. “We agreed never to talk about that night ever again.”

Jack grinned, enjoying their banter. “I feel like I missed all of the fun-Bunny. Now all we have left is Stuffy-Bunny.”

“Call me that one more time.”

“Tuffy-Bunny.” Pitch echoed from behind Jack.

Jack couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lip. “Oh, yeah. You have to be careful what you say. Peaches is real big into parroting what you say.”

Bunny rolled his eyes. “Of course he is.

North came up behind them. “No arguing today. It is Christmas. Eat, drink, be merry.”

Sandy tipped his glass in a salute to North's statement.

“I can definitely do that.” Jack said as he snagged a sausage-roll from the nearest table. “This is the first family Christmas I've had in hundreds of years. I'm going to enjoy it.” Jack smiled at them. “You want some food, Pitch? I think I saw some of those crackers that you like.” He said as he led Pitch away.

Tooth smiled. “Family. I guess we are a family. I haven't had one of those in a long time.”

“None of us have.” Bunny agreed. “I guess I can suck it up and enjoy one Christmas.” He frowned when he noticed Sandy smiling knowingly. “It's still not more important than Easter.” He grumbled.

“Sam made carrot cake.” North said, holding a plate out to him. “Merry Christmas, Bunny.”

“Oy, ya big sap.” Bunny said as he took the plate.

Sandy shot Tooth a wide eyed look, then pretended to press his hand to his chest in shock.

“You're right.” She sorted quietly. “I guess Christmas miracles do exist.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas y'all! At the time of posting, it's 2am here, and I literally just finished writing this. I'm going to have to look over it tomorrow and edit it, but I swore I'd post this before Christmas, so please forgive any errors until I can correct them. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!


	12. New Year, New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Pitch ring in the new year with fireworks, and make a new friend along the way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) A mini-update, that will hopefully live up to my dear HPO's expectations. Happy New Year!

New Years Eve dawned on a dreary, gray morning, much like the days leading up to it. Jack sighed mournfully. Hopefully it wouldn't rain. That would ruin his plans. As the day went on, though, the clouds lessened, and finally the sun came out.

"It's not very warm." Jack said as he bundled Pitch up in his jacket and other winter accessories. "But at least it stopped raining."

"Where are you going today?" North asked, taking a break from his whittling to watch them.

"Burgess. We haven't been in a while." He smiled as he tugged Pitch's hat on, then tied his black cloak around his neck. "That, and I may be a bit biased, but I think my hometown has the best fireworks."

"Fireworks?"

"Yep! I'm taking Pitch to see the New Years fireworks. We might be home a little late, so don't worry if we're not back by bedtime."

"No bedtime!" Pitch exclaimed.

Jack laughed. "Oh, no, silly. I said you could stay up late. Not there will be no bedtime."

Pitch pouted.

"None of that. Go get your sippy cup. I'll get you some apple juice, then we can go."

"Juice!" The toddler ran from the room, screaming from the top of his lungs.

"You are keeping him up till midnight?" North snorted as he resumed his carving. "That will end well."

Jack waved off his concern as he dug through his bag, checking to make sure he had everything he might need for the trip. "He'll crash before then. The show starts at seven. We'll watch some fireworks, maybe hook up with the Bennetts, and then he'll fall asleep on the way home. I've got it all planned out."

"I'm sure you have it all under control." He said soothingly, then produced a snow globe from his pocket. "But take this for when you don't want to fly home with cranky little one."

"Thanks." Jack said as he accepted the globe. He nestled it in the bag in between the teddy grams and a spare t shirt.

Before they headed out, North had one last bit of advice. "Life seldom goes according to plan, Jack."

The younger Guardian groaned. "Aw, man. Why'd you have to jinx me. Now something is definitely going to go wrong."

-

Burgess was still in the holiday spirit. The Christmas lights and garlands were strung up between light poles. Shop windows were dotted with decorations, and a giant outdoor Christmas tree had been set up in the town square. It was dreadfully cold, though that did little to lessen the festivities. There were even horse drawn carriages available to rent.

Jack flew towards downtown. If he remembered correctly, there was a park down there with a wonderful view of the annual firework display. Said park had been overrun by blankets and folding chairs as family staked out bits of soggy ground to call their own. There had been several snowstorms in the last week, and as a result, snow was piled high. Well, he could certainly kill a few hours with all of this snow.

Hours later, Jack was surprised to realize just how smooth everything up to that point had gone. They had indeed run into Jamie, who was with Sophie and their mother. The Bennetts, along with half of the town had turned up at the park. Jack had been worried that Jamie might be upset with him for avoiding them, but he had been surprisingly understanding.

"I figured it was Pitch stuff." Jamie said, brushing it off. "Want some funnel cake?"

They spent the time before the firework show playing in the park with Sophie and Pitch. Jack may have started a snowball fight that, say, snowballed out of control, ending only when the first bright light boomed across the sky. The townsfolk dropped their snowballs and exclaimed in delight. There were also a scattering of screams. Jack was not alone in comforting his young charge.

Jack picked Pitch up and followed the Bennetts back to the blanket they had set up.

"It's okay." He said as soothingly as he could while speaking over the pops.

"Too loud!" Pitch yelled as he cupped his hands over his ears.

Jamie tugged on Jack's hoodie sleeve to get his attention, then passed him a small box, which upon closer examination turned out to contain earplugs.

"Thanks!" He said as he pulled a pair out and worked them into Pitch's ears. "Better?"

"What?" Pitch asked, lowering his hands.

Jack smiled when Pitch seemed to relax and enjoy the fireworks. He put Pitch down next to him, and lost himself in the fireworks.

A loud shriek drew his attention away from the spectacle in the sky.  
  
Jack swung around, recognizing who the voice belonged to. He thought that perhaps the last round of fireworks had startled the toddler, but when he went to comfort him, he realized that the toddler was nowhere to be found. “Where's Pitch?” He asked as he stood up, trying to see through the field of bodies.  
  
"He was right here." Jamie said.  
  
"Well he sure isn't now." The Guardian exclaimed, dread growing in his chest. "Peaches!" He yelled. "Where are you?"

"He couldn't have gone far." Jamie said quietly to Jack, then louder to his mother, "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom."  
  
"Can you wait? It's almost over."

"No. I have to go now. I know where the portapoties are, I'll be right back."

"Okay, be careful." She paused. "And take Sophie with you." Jamie grumbled, but hi mom cut him off "There will be be a line later."

"Fiiiine. Come on Soph."

Once they were out of sight, Jamie turned to Jack. "Let's split up. You take the sky. We'll look down here. We'll find him."

"Come on, Sophie." Jamie said as he led her away.

Sophie wiped her nose as Jack shot off. "What's going on? I thought we were going to the potty?"

"Shh. We're looking for Peach, I mean Pitch."

"Oh. Why?"

"Because he got lost. We're trying to find him."

"Oh. I know where he is."

Jamie turned around, staring at her in open mouthed shock. "You do?"

"Mh-hm."

"Jack!" Jamie yelled, catching the attention of the frost spirit.

"What is it?" He said as he landed. "Did you find him?"

"Sophie says that she knows where he is."

Jack crouched down, clutching his staff to his chest. "Where is he?"

Sophie pointed towards the road. "Horsie."

Jack watched one of the horse-drawn carriages clop down the street. One of the many with very big, very sleek, black horses.

"Oh no. What was he doing over there? He's scared of horses!" Jack felt a his stomach drop.

"How is he scared of horses?" Jamie asked, eyebrows raising.

"It's a long story." Jack admitted, running a hand through his hair. "You guys go back to your mom. I'll find him. Thank you Sophie."

"You sure?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah." He nodded.

Jack watched them go back to their blanket, then flew to the road. Now, if he was a scared two year old, where would he hide? On his fifth try, he got lucky. The firework finale illuminated the sky just enough for him to catch a glimpse of shadow where it didn't belong. Curled under a wooden park bench, he found the wayward spirit.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." Jack laid down on the ground. "You can't wander off like that. I was so scared when I realized that you were gone."

"'dak scared?"

"Uh huh. Probably about as scared as you were when you ran into that horse."

"Bad."

Jack wasn't sure if he was talking about the horse or his own behavior. "Uh huh. Well, we missed the end of the show. No more running off. It's time to go back home."

"Home."

Jack helped Pitch wiggle out from under the bench. It was then that he noticed two things.

"First of all, what's in your mouth? Second of all, what's in your jacket?"

Pitch spit something into his hand and held it out for Jack to inspect.

"Eww. Is that an earplug? Groooss." He checked Pitch's ears. "Did you eat the other one, oh you did. I hope it tasted good."

"Uh huh."

"And the other thing. What's in your jacket. Come on, out with it." 

"Mine." Pitch said as he wrapped his arms protectively around his middle.

"Let me see it." Jack said as he struggled to examine the lump.

"No." Pitch cried.

They scuffled for a few moments longer before Jack finally managed to get Pitch's cloak pushed away long enough to unzip his coat. He was met with a bundle of mangy fur.

"No." Jack said instantly, plucking the ball of fur up to examine it. It was a cat, in quite scruffy condition, missing an eye, and as thin as a rail. He almost wasn't sure if it was alive, but for the shallow rise of it's ribcage.

Pitch turned big gold-grey eyes on him.

"We're not keeping the cat." He said sternly. "We're going back to the Pole. Just the two of us."

-

Jack burst into North's office moments later, startling the older Guardian.

"We're back. We have a cat now. Goodnight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year Everyone!  
> Minor edits 3/23/16


End file.
